The Second Cry
by Impassive Purple
Summary: [Discontinued] In which pain and death are a constant. Where values are assigned to everything. People will be people after all, and Naruto just happens to be stuck in this less than ideal world, disconnected from everyone else by force- turned choice... Sentiment and value are worthless if you're dead. "Whatever... Not my problem, right?" (OOC, Kikoku/Sword Wielding Naruto)
1. Chillingly Red

**Hello people, I am Impassive Purple. This is my first story (Aka, the worst I could probably ever be). Just so you know, most of the first 7 chapters suck; Warning.**

 **Truly, there is a piece of my _soul and brain that just dies_ whenever I read these first two, even though I've tried to edit them to actually make sense... less so on the others but a few are pretty bad. To the point where they've dragged me down so much that I've almost wanted to give this story up, and try to write something else with a far more solid foundation. I've been discouraged from doing so by some of those who managed to read through this... _bleh_ in the beginning. I don't know how, but they did. I do plan to rewrite them later, so that they don't commit genocide on my brain cells, however I'm not sure that day is close.  
**

 **Take that as you will, but I honestly believe they take a drastic increase in quality after those dark days (I'm told chapter 3 also is not unreadable, unlike 1 and 2). Then again, bias, so you do you.  
**

* * *

 **Apologies, beforehand, for the length–skip to the next line if you don't care. To give you a summary;**

 **I originally wrote this fic with the idea of giving Naruto abilities like those of a character by the name of Trafalgar D. Water Law has, from the One Piece anime/manga series, meaning that his shinobi techniques and possibly even his weapon will more or less take heavy influence from such.**

 **A few other things too;  
**

 **1\. Naruto will not specialize in mass destruction techniques, nor will he be a throwing around extremely high chakra consumption techniques like he breathes them.  
**

 **2\. This version of the Naruto universe is much 'darker' (Is a word I would use, but I'm not quite sure it fits) than canon. People will die. If your favorite character bites the dust, it was likely for reasons. Logic, plot, or circumstance usually. ie; if [Insert Character Here] gets [Burnt To Ashes], because they [Got In The Way Of A Technique]... they would _probably_ not survive. **

**Many shinobi aim to kill, and respect for life isn't high on the agenda. 'Holding Back' is the kind of term I _loathe_ if the situation is life and death. Underestimation isn't.  
**

 **Important characters will die. Characters being impaled, having body parts severed, having their throats ripped out, being burned to death, so on and so forth–will be a thing. Do keep in mind though, characters will not simply drop like flies for no good reason. That would be too much, and there would be no purpose behind it.  
**

 **And lastly, I well and truly believe that I am a sub-par writer (Not the worst, but sub-par). I know this is fanfiction, and this is probably some sort of mantra at this point, but come into this story believing that it will not be a masterpiece or anything close to one.**

 **In fact, it would probably be best for both of us if you came into reading this story under the impression that it's shit, and be pleasantly entertained if I ever do good.**

* * *

 **On to the story! Also–critisism is not only WELCOMED, it's ENCOURAGED! Bash my bad writing ability to your heart's content, and tell me how it would be better.**

 **Rated M for Language, Violence, Blood/Gore, Implications, and so forth. Also, Lemons, although unlikely, are not out of the realm of possibility.  
**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me. I could only dream of owning such a successful series or have enough drive to keep up with it for over 15 years. Although the series is not remotely close to my favorite, the author has my respect.  
**

* * *

Deep breath. One. Two. Three. Quiet as a mouse. Stealthy as a snake. Senses like a rabbit.

...

Since he had been born, over 8 years ago, Uzumaki Naruto had always been a rather reluctantly curious individual. Informing himself about the logic and balance of the world around him was... entertaining. Of his favorite activities; hunting, contemplating life, and reading interesting books were his most enjoyable and readily available.

The first was what he was engaged in currently.

Hunting was something he found was rather rewarding, not only because meats were expensive on his minuscule budget, but due to the relative silence and calm he found himself enjoying while waiting for a small animal to pass by. The forest was somewhere that he could relax without people staring at him, or feel the compelling, overhanging 'need' from the influence of the Hokage to make 'friends' despite the fact that he was _a bit_ 'socially awkward'. Not that he couldn't talk to people. He really didn't like to.

Although these may not bother him as much as they had when he was younger, it was nice to feel free.

Naruto currently found himself stilled on a branch in one of the many trees in the land of fire. The sun had set previously, and dusk was approaching fast; ideal conditions for the animal he was hunting, as they would be coming back to their burrows about this time.

He was wearing dark brown multi-pocketed shorts, blue shinobi sandals, and a dark purple shirt under a burnt orange vest—something that, even if he admitted it was counter-productive, just added to the challenge in his opinion—along with dark gray arm and leg warmers.

On his head was his absolute favorite of accessories, a hat that capped and covered most of his dark blonde hair. One that a merchant from the Land of Bears _left behind_ when he was 6—at the time Naruto was sure the man wouldn't miss it enough to come back for it until his next visit, and he predicted right. He still avoided that man every time he came to Konoha, lest he recognize his lost possession. People from the Land of Bears didn't come around often however, so it was rare that he would enter the market places and see him.

It was a large brown fur winter hat with a thick front facing bill, dotted with small splotches of white around the sides **(1)**. It kept his head warm through the entirety of the cold months; as it was now. Though he usually wore it all year as it became a staple in his attire. It had also become special to him in a way.

While it only snowed a few times a year in the Land of Fire, it still got cold. Sometimes it dropped into the high 20's, which was fortunately rare **(2)**. Thankfully, this winter was mostly clear, and at the lowest was in the 40's. He would be mostly fine in his normal every day dress along with the addition of his wool lined leg and arm warmers. He honestly hated wearing clothes that constricted him too much like multiple layers did. It made him feel... slow.

Quiet padding was heard below, and his sharp violet-blue eyes flickered to the source.

A large rabbit was coming back towards its burrow. Just as planned. A light wind swept his scent in the opposite direction, also rustling the leaves on all of the trees in the vicinity, preventing his prey from hearing or smelling him until it was too late.

Conditions; perfect.

He gripped his kunai, debating for less than a millisecond whether or not to throw it, as opposed to falling into, and trying to stab the rabbit. His previous attempts to throw a kunai—a technique he had little idea how to do properly as they hadn't yet completely taught it in his recently begun class at the academy—had gone pretty badly, even against a still target; there was no way he would fatally hit the animal. As such, the more guaranteed approach sounded far more appealing.

The gray rabbit started to dig away the opening it had previously covered.

One, two, three—

He was about to fall into stabbing the rabbit, but stopped as he heard something else. Correcting his stance in order to not fall accidentally, he glanced over to the noise.

Naruto froze. Internal curse words were said, as he—very wisely—decided that he did not want to die to by having his throat torn out via the claws of a large bobcat for trying to steal its potential prey.

He didn't dare move a muscle.

Naruto hadn't ever encountered any in real life, but he read that they could be vicious. The medium sized cat approached the now burrowed rabbit like a seasoned veteran, silent and quick. There was hardly a moment in between movements, as the animal's claws flew into the hole.

The blonde heard violent squealing and he winced, still keeping his presence scarce. He watched as the rabbit was wrenched out, and the squeals stopped when the bobcat finally broke it's neck. The animal started playing with the rabbit like a toy—it bat the corpse around for a few moments before getting down to _business_.

Naruto let it have its meal, not doing much more than quietly breathing the quickly cooling dusk air and gripping the taped handle of his kunai; lest he end up like the rabbit. He grimaced.

The skin of the small creature was the first to go, clawed off torturously slow. The larger animal then started to rip the fresh bloody meat from its bones. When it was done, the unedible extras were carelessly stuffed back into the hole—damaged pelt, and all—leaving a highly unpleasant surprise for any other animals that decided they wanted to use it as a home. Though the stench of death would probably do plenty to ward them off.

He continued to wait nearly 20 minutes after it left, before he decided that he needed to get back to the village before it became too dark and he couldn't see. Naruto put the kunai into his shorts and dropped down from the branch, onto the cooled soil. He stood, glancing back at the rabbit hole with a frown, before shaking his head. He turned away and took off through the trees for a few minutes, before reaching the walls. Slapping a mosquito off of himself, the blonde scanned for his entrance way. Certain features around it marked its location.

Naruto knew very well that an ANBU was likely watching his every move, but if they decided to move off post to tell, they wouldn't be informing the Hokage of anything he didn't already know. The only reason he even came this way is because the usuals, Izumo and Kotetsu, always harassed him when he went through the front gates; something he didn't feel like listening to today.

He found the unlocked hidden metal grate in the wall, which led to a long path through the wall. It was covered in small pipes and such. If one searched hard enough, they could uncover some of the _hundreds_ of seals which lined the passageway; helping the barrier teams regulate the field of chakra that surrounded Konoha. The only people who ever came down here were the seal examiners. Their job was checking to see if any were fading, or had been messed with in any way. Since nothing touched them, that was usually a no.

Naruto undid the latch, and slipped through the hidden grate, closing it behind him. Though it was pitch black, he walked a couple meters to the other side and felt along the wall. His hand caught the latch of the door that led out the other side. Opening it, he stepped out. He turned, then latched the door closed yet again. This one came out close to the Uchiha Clan Compound.

He had seen a few of the clan members earlier, on his way to the part of the forest he was just in. If there was one common trait he noticed among them, is was their attitudes. Usually a no bullshit to be approach to things. Which is why it sucked that he only ever encountered the asshole ones in conversation.

Naruto lightly sighed and began the long tedious walk home. He had only made it several steps before he felt his fingers twitch. A thought occurred to him. He needed milk… he had run out this morning.

Reaching behind and into his bag again as he walked, he pulled out a frog themed wallet. Popping open the metal tabs he looked inside. 420 Ryo **(3)**. Naruto grimaced at the amount. This was supposed to get him through the week and a half until February?

 _'Doubt it.'_

Of course he did have a bit at home in his 'Heavily Storming Day' fund, for stuff such as these arm and leg warmers he had—but that was only for extreme emergencies. Milk alone would be nearly 70 Ryo... _'Ugh...'_ maybe he would need to survive on those extremely cheap rice bags again, and possibly some bread? A little bland, but he could survive. He would try and get a few vegetables at the beginning of next month, though.

Maybe he would need to survive on those extremely cheap rice bags again, and possibly some bread? A little bland, but he could survive. He would try and get a few vegetables at the beginning of next month, though. He hated coming home after a long day at the academy, having exercised himself like all the other kids, only to innately feel the lack of nourishment from his diet once he got there, because he both did not consume enough calories and did not get enough of other such nutrition.

Naruto adjusted his fur hat, and looked up just in time to avoid bumping to an older dark haired girl. He sidestepped her, and mumbled a small apology.

"Uh... Sorry... Didn't see you..." Naruto continued his gait.

She didn't respond and kept walking, the words didn't even phase her. If Naruto were paying more attention, and it wasn't so dark, he would notice a few important details about her.

She was smiling... Or rather _grinning_. Not playful or innocent... No. And her eyes were _glowing red_.

* * *

Naruto continued on past the girl, not giving her much of a second glance. He noticed the strange lack of people along the way, but didn't pay it much attention. The night air steadily became colder, dropping several degrees. Although the wind stayed light, it only made him colder than he already was.

The smell certainly hit him before the sight. He had been walking for nearly 10 minutes, before he _passed_ the Uchiha Compound gates. At least—that was what he planned to do. He didn't make it that far.

First noticing the lack of the usual guards chatting outside, he turned and looked over through the opening—as opposed to just quickly passing by to avoid the comments from the red-eyes who were usually stationed there.

 _'What the hell...?'_

He took a moment to register the sight in front of him. Either the night was playing tricks on him or...

Or.

"Blood..." Naruto's pupils dilated, as his eyes widened. "Blood?"

There were two corpses lying just inside the compound. _'No... wait.'_

There were _more_.

Naruto looked up down the street.

So _many_ more...

He covered his mouth. _'What... is this...?'_

Body after mutilated body lined the streets. They were desecrated almost as if it was an _art form_. Strange symbols and marks of blood were drawn onto the streets, like they were experimenting with multiple different shapes to see which ones _fit the best_ around each individual body.

The first dozen or so of them were messy—sloppily killed. Multiple stab wounds through the chest or ribs, impaled through the neck, and the like. It only seemed to increase in finesse after those; slowly turning from violent slashes to slits across the neck, and stabs directly into the heart from behind.

To make the scene even more gruesome—if possible—every single one of them were missing their eyes. Not one was spared. All had empty holes in their skulls, leaking only more blood.

He couldn't look away. It wasn't the same as the incident in the forest—that was just _nature_. _This_ made him want to puke. More than that, he wanted to run. He had to get someone... Tell the Hokage... Something. But again, couldn't. His legs wouldn't move at his command. They seemed to have made up their own minds as he stumbled backwards, and landed on his back. His eyes didn't change direction though.

The sheer amount of blood. He had never seen anything like it. It was overwhelming.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was getting far too old for this job. It had left it's unmerciful scathing marks in dividends.

Signing and checking over paperwork several times a day was something he could do. Guiding the children of the next generation through words and curriculum was something he would proudly do as well.

... _Allowing_ a member of a clan to completely eradicate that same clan—except for one if his theory was accurate—really took its toll on him. All he had ever wanted was a peaceful resolution. An outcome where the Uchiha could coexist with everyone else in the village... His stay at the office had been extended past its normal hours; his reasoning for this being that he 'had paperwork to catch up on'. He had previously cleared all of the ANBU out of their hiding places in the shadows, ordering them to turn in for the night—with the exception of the only one besides the coucil elders, and the _operative_ to know about this. Kakashi Hatake.

Kakashi himself, if possible, felt worse about this. But he knew that he could argue the plan all he wanted, and nothing would change. Simply standing there, clutching his hands, digging his nails into his palms until they bled.

Hiruzen sat in his chair, dull eyes only staring at the desk; awaiting the inevitable busting down of his doors from the guard shift shinobi, alerting him that the Uchiha clan had been massacred, and that they were currently tracking or in pursuit of one Uchiha Itachi...

Sarutobi sighed grimly.

"Kakashi… I'm going to retire after tonight." the silver haired, dog masked man nodded. Little surprise was to be had, and he didn't blame the man. Of all of the horrible things the Third Hokage had likely dealt with, this was probably the last straw.

But who would take the hat? They assuredly couldn't let Danzo have it; if this would always be his... _default_ to extreme situations, that would be suicide for the village. Jiraiya would be one of the few options left, next to Tsunade; but he doubted the woman would want to come back to the village any time soon.

His thoughts were interrupted when the sound of Shunshin sounded in the room. Kakashi and Hiruzen were only slightly surprised when a young woman appeared holding a brown and white fur capped young blonde. The reason for their surprise was the latter of the two.

 _'She is more than likely here to report, but w_ _hat's Naruto doing with Anko, and why is he unconscious?'_

Neither of them looked injured, or even touched. Anko did however, look highly panicked, but held it back rather well.

"Anko? What's wrong, and why is Naruto with you?" Hiruzen was the first to speak. Anko stayed quiet for a moment. She took a second to set down the unconscious boy on the seat to the side. Taking a breath, she finally gave her shaky answer.

"Hokage-sama… Fuck... The Uchiha..." the young woman looked like she had seen a ghost. In a way, she must have seen several; so many dead... Despite the Uchiha's willingness to enact a civil war, it wasn't entirely their fault. They were just reacting like a cornered animal; if that was comparable. "They— _all_ of them… They were killed…"

It was unfortunate. But being a leader, you had to make those kinds of terrible choices. If it existed, chances were that there was a spot in hell reserved for Kage alone… And the Third most certainly felt as if he deserved it.

"Woah woah. Anko, what are you-?!"

"Sandaime-sama... The red eyes..." She began, running her hand through her hair. "Like, there's _no-one left!_ Someone just went batshit on them; murdered the entire clan!"

Hiruzen easily—and with heavy guilt—faked his surprise, pulling the wool over her eyes. Kakashi even played a part, successfully managing to look shocked, in a state of wide eyed disbelief from behind his mask. The Sandaime shot up from his chair.

"WHAT!?"

"On my way here I alerted the ANBU… I found Uzumaki unconscious near the clan gates." the purple haired young woman paused. "What kind of crazy religious bastard... _sacrifices_ an entire clan…!?" she muttered, tightening her fists.

 _'Wait. Sacrifices...? Itachi isn't…?'_ Kakashi and Hiruzen locked eyes.

 _'It wasn't Itachi_ … _'_

And just like that, they were all on the same page. _**What?**_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **(1)** Basically Law's hat, except the colors are switched; white being brown and vice-versa.

 **(2)** Fahrenheit

 **(3)** 420 Ryo is equal to about $35~ USD.

 **Love it? Hate it? Want it to burn? (I know I almost wish it had!)**

 **SECONDARY A/N—About this story's contrast to canon Naruto.**

I do not plan on the Juubi/Shinju/Kaguya being the 'endgame' villain. This story won't really/likely be exploring the origins of chakra, nor the ethics of people using chakra for things other than its original purpose (Ninshu). These are both to be pretty much understood by the reader (along with minor unexplained plot devices, which I will tell you now to just use your imagination; it may be expanded upon later, it may not). As such, the need for relations/reincarnations of past figures of such backgrounds is basically thrown out the window. Kaguya and the Rikudo Sennin do not play a major story role in this universe. Yes, the Akatsuki still do plan on the revival of Juubi and the Mugen Tsukiyomi (MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE), but this is just kind-of 'there'. Asura and Indra are dead and buried more than 6 feet under, as such, Naruto isn't the reincarnation of Asura, and the same goes for Sasuke/Indra. While the origins story of everything still did happen, their purposes to the world aren't really going to be revisited; if at all.

This story is going to be a mostly, if not entirely, 'SHINOBI' story, not 'Infinitely Powerful People Come Back From The Dead/Seals And Bring Havoc To The World' story.

This is not to say that the plot may not involve the revival of certain figures, because it could happen, or that the people I have listed here won't make an appearance (if only slight, and short), but the 'canon end' just ISN'T going to be a thing here.

This isn't completely _Naruto._ This is a _Fanfiction._


	2. Occultic?

**Hi. Take heed, I am aware that this chapter causes a bit of a plot hole in later chapters, but I haven't gotten around to dealing with it. #.#  
**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

 **One Week Ago**

 _Silence reigned throughout the office for what felt like ages after she said that. The breathing from the Third and Kakashi almost paused all together._

" _What… do you mean, exactly, by 'sacrifice'? As in, like a_ _cultist_ _sacrifice?" Sarutobi asked slowly, worried about the answer he would receive from the girl._

"… _Exactly like that Hokage-sama… There was so much blood on the ground, and there was writing in it everywhere…" Anko confirmed, in turn also confirming Hiruzen and Kakashi's greatest fears. It wasn't Itachi. It definitely wasn't Root… Who the fuck killed them?_

" _All of their eyes were gone, even the infants and children… There were these white masked shinobi strewn about too. Their eyes were missing, also…"_

 _What? While he figured Danzo would have use in the eyes, the whole 'blood runes' thing didn't make sense, so that was impossible. Who would have use for eyes that didn't even possess Sharingan? Unless they just wanted to eliminate the bloodlines all together? Hiruzen ran his mind over possible suspects for an idea—_

 _Oh._ _ **SHIT**_ _. What happened to Itachi? Did he escape from whoever did it?! Did they lose their possible informant in the Akatsuki?! Sarutobi calmed himself. It wouldn't do well to lose his head when his shinobi would be waiting on his orders._

" _Anko-san, you said that the ANBU were taking light investigatory action, correct?" Kakashi injected himself into the conversation with a question, which was answered with a nod._

" _Yes, and many are likely searching the forests as we speak." she told him, finally collecting herself enough to talk without trailing off, and give a clear report. The whole situation reminded her too much of her old sensei, but even he didn't do occult killings._

" _Call a lockdown on the compound and retrieve the M.I. ANBU unit; tell them to match a name to every single face! Also have trackers search for the scent of blood leading out of the village, this may give us a lead on which way they're headed—if they even left the village at all…" he ordered, mumbling to himself more towards the end. However, that didn't make the order any less effective, as Anko nodded her head and shunshin'd away._

 _He turned to Kakashi. They exchanged a look that only they could interpret between themselves. A question neither could answer._

' _If it wasn't Itachi, or Root; who did it?'_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

It had been a week since the loss of the Uchiha clan. During that week, the academy had been temporarily suspended. Many funerals were held within a short span of time, and people were still grieving upon the—unknowingly traitorous—Uchiha's graves. Life in Konoha took a pause when the incident was partially revealed to the public.

That they had been _massacred_.

Now, however, life was steadily becoming normal again. The academy and civilian schools had resumed, and most people went about their daily lives.

Two Uchiha's in particular hit Naruto's classroom hard with their deaths. Sasuke and Miki Uchiha, the only one's in their class. Naruto hadn't really ever conversated with either, so all he knew about them was what he had picked up in passing.

Miki, was a rather clumsy and exuberant orange haired girl, daughter of two civilian Uchiha's—yes, those exist—and next, Sasuke, a hardworking, yet _very_ privileged raven haired boy; one of the two sons of the clan head.

After their deaths had been confirmed, however, Naruto could remember something good about one of them. It was that Sasuke Uchiha had always _kicked his ass in taijutsu_. Without fail, every single time, and only progressively got worse each time they sparred. Never had he challenged the raven haired boy, but he always seemed to end up sparring with him at the end of the thrice weekly physical practice tests. Damn _Pond-scum._

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Week 2 of the academy. The only children who really knew how to fight were from clans._

' _So why am I picked to fight one? Does the instructor want to make me the designated laughing stock right off the bat?_' _Naruto wondered with annoyance. Seeing the look the man gave him, it pretty much confirmed it._

" _Without a doubt." he mumbled. Sighing, the fur capped blonde stepped up to the circle. It was a little over 2 meters in diameter; if you got knocked out of the circle—1 loss, and vice versa._

 _Naruto noticed Sasuke appraising him, as if wondering if the blonde would be a challenge. '_ _Probably not._ ' _the hat wearing boy thought, negatively. He didn't really know_ _jack_ _worth forms, or styles other than the very basics to '_ _improve upon on their own time_ ' _. The odds were so tipped_ _out of favor_ _for him it was almost hilarious._

 _The instructor signaled them to get ready. Naruto got into the basic stance they had been taught in the week prior; legs balanced but ready to move forward or backward and either hand ready to attack or guard. Sasuke, on the other hand got in a counter stance—the interception fist, if he could recall the name correctly…_

" _Ready?" The green haired instructor asked, and the boys both nodded; Naruto slightly glaring at the man, who totally ignored him. "Hajime!"_

 _At first Naruto thought that Sasuke would move forward, given that he lurched. It was a lure; he quickly figured out. Sasuke danced around the side of the white ring, until he got into Naruto's space. This was admittedly a bad move on the raven haired boy's part, as he was forced to avoid a bastardized sweep kick by stepping into the middle of the ring._

 _Naruto stepped forward and dug his heel into the ground, attempting another kick; this time high. Instead of dodging, Sasuke caught the shin, and pushed back. This resulted in Naruto going off balance, and barely catching himself before he fell out of bounds._

 _Sasuke went in for the offense, throwing a punch that Naruto barely dodged by stepping in and to the side. He threw an elbow towards the Uchiha, who was forced back. Naruto went for the offence again this time, and a fist landed. Sasuke winced, but didn't move his position—he took the hit on purpose._

 _Too busy with avoiding getting his teeth removed by alternative means, Naruto stepped back and away from Sasuke's own elbow._

 _Bad move._

 _Sasuke took advantage of the lack of distance; Naruto had his right ankle jabbed—which hurt like a bitch by the way—by his opponents sandal. He caught himself quickly._

 _However, Naruto slipped up. It all happened so fast. His foot landed a quarter_ _over_ _the boundary line._

" _Sasuke wins! Loser; Naruto!" the moss headed instructor was all too happy to shout to the other students; of most who proceeded_ _to cheer for the darker haired boy. Naturo's fingers twitched with annoyance. He never shouted out the losers for any other match… '_ _Damn green-haired Pond-scum_ ' _._

 _ **Flashback End**_

* * *

Even though he didn't think of the boy as a friend—he still missed the challenge that came with sparring with him. Naruto personally thought that he was never great at taijutsu, but even then, he found himself besting most of the other kids in his class. The only people who ever gave him trouble on the off chance he got to practice with them were—in order of most difficult—Kiba Inuzuka, Choji Akimichi, and even Shino Aburame surprisingly enough. Naruto hadn't beat any of them yet.

Also, he always thought that the Aburame almost exclusively used bug-based techniques. Maybe they were trying to train a less specialized member?

The rest of his class consisted of other clan heirs—the Hyuuga, Yamanaka, and Nara—with the rest being all civilians; or from pseudo shinobi families such as Komurasaki Ami **(1)**.

He always got put with the far more 'rainbows and sunshine' group of civilians when it came to spars, so beating them was not really a surprise.

In the actual classroom is where he did slightly worse in some areas. Mostly _world history_. He really didn't see _why_ people needed to know that Hashirama Senju's grandfather was the first known use of Mokuton; or that the Kunai was first 'mass produced' over a thousand years ago… This didn't help anyone, or solve any problems.

Essentially _'useless Information'_.

But he didn't voice any displeasure as it wouldn't solve any problems for him—it might spontaneously produce more. Besides it only lasted three days out of the week, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

The only classes that he could truly say he was good at were Survival, and the Anatomy lessons—of which on the latter he was the top of the class. Naruto was also pretty good at Bukijutsu, but none of the weapons they learned to use—Kunai, Shuriken, and Ninja-Wire—really suited him. Not to say he didn't like the kunai, however. Versatile; just not quite him.

He did hear that students could take one of a few electives in their second year and beyond, so that was nice. He was gonna go for either Medical-nin courses, or the extra Chakra Control lessons. Both sounded far more useful to his tastes than the Barrier Ninjutsu lessons, that a good amount of the civilian children were taking interest in—in order to stay in the village.

"Students!" Naruto's violet-blue eyes focused back on the world. He was seat number 36. The very back row, closest to the wall parallel to the windows. Talk about placement.

"We're getting a new teacher today, who was registered to help from day one, yet had some personal business to take care of," the moss headed man, Fukuro- _sensei_ announced. "Come in!"

A shoulder length silver haired man stepped into the room, and Naruto's academy life instantly became more agonizingly annoying. The all smiles, fun and games; unless it came to Naruto—Mizuki-teme. Well. _Shit_.

"Say hello to your new teacher Namika Mizuki-sensei!"

While the others were greeted him, Naruto groaned into the table. It was going to be a long year.

* * *

The academy released, and Naruto immediately made him way towards the Hokage tower—he was going to relive the minutes before horror struck.

A terrible decision. No question.

Originally, when he woke up from unconsciousness the morning after the Massacre, he had thrown up. Not that there was anything _to_ throw up. He hadn't eaten since nearly 15 hours prior. After a moment of mental failure, and subsequent reboot, he had stayed silent for the remainder of the day. His only break from the silence were to the Hokage, asking what exactly he had seen. The reply;

" _The world at its lowest."_ the words stayed with him, yet they didn't haunt him.

While it wasn't supposed to get out to the public for a few days, it was inevitable that the people would question why no more Uchiha were around the village anymore—why appointments that were made, weren't followed through; why utility and shop owners/workers never showed up to run their businesses, or work their jobs. Dates that were made, cancelled; visiting of Uchiha friends, denied. All for the purpose of finding some way to get closure before the news was released.

All the people involved knew it would happen, the Hokage, the shinobi sworn to secrecy, everyone! There was no way physically possible that they could keep it a secret! But they tried. And much to their surprise, it worked—for the first day.

When the new hit, it ignited the denizens of Konoha like a damn _wildfire_. The dominoes started to fall more like marbles spilling out of a bag.

 _The Uchiha were murdered in an occult killing._

A handful of people lost jobs, the economy temporarily dropped, the number of shinobi in the village was lower than after the _Kyuubi_ attacked. So on, and so forth.

In short, the village was suffering from mental trauma. Amazingly so, though; it still held together well. And was getting back to its feet with a startling amount of energy, rebounding like a rubber ball.

They were recovering. Konoha would never quite completely heal from the practical amputation of nearly a ⅙ of its shinobi part of the village; a very large part of the _shinobi village_ —well not at least in this generation's lifetime—but they absolutely _were_ coming back. Hashirama would be proud.

However, this same effect was not had on Naruto, Sarutobi Hiruzen, or the Konoha Council—mostly Danzo.

Naruto; 'scarred' from witnessing the horrible tragedy from his young age, Hiruzen; having to deal with the repercussions and problems the loss caused, and Danzo; losing any remnants of possible power he could have had.

And the culprit, whose identity had yet to be revealed, was still out there. And unless they were suicidal too—they were alive. People wanted justice, and Naruto—being the only one to ever see the highly suspected female killer—had the memories to know who exactly it was. The only reason he hadn't been called in earlier was that the investigation team had only recently discovered two things. They ran through all of the findings they had, and came up with; the possible gender of the killer, and the likely age.

Both of which matched the person who Naruto had passed on the empty street. The evidence wasn't anywhere near solid, but they were grasping for straws.

Naruto walked past the front desk attendant and up the winding stairs to the Hokage's office. He knocked on the door.

"Enter!" the Third's voice called from behind the wooden door. Adjusting his side bag and hat, he pulled open the door and shuffled in; closing the doors behind once he had entered. Naruto bowed to the Hokage, and gave a nod of acknowledgement to Inoichi Yamanaka—the clan head of the Yamanaka, and best in his field.

"Naruto. You know what you are here for, correct?" Hiruzen questioned the 8 year old blonde, who nodded.

"My memories." Naruto sighed lowly. Hiruzen nodded then looked over to the other man. "Inoichi? Are you prepared?"

Said sandy blonde nodded, and motioned for Naruto to sit in the chair in front of himself. The fur capped boy lifted his bag off, then sat down in the chair.

"And the hat, if you will?" Inoichi asked, and Naruto obeyed, although slightly hesitant. Getting up and taking off his hat—revealing medium length sunshine blonde hair, he set it gently on his bag. Naruto then sat back down on the chair.

"Ready?" Naruto only nodded in response.

" **Yamanaka Secret Technique: Mind Walk.** "

* * *

 _ **Naruto's Mind**_

 _Both Naruto and Inoichi found themselves in a large room. The floor and ceiling was made of black brick, but the walls were so white, that they couldn't tell if they actually existed or not. The only thing that told them that there was anything there, were the red and blue pipes that ran along them. There was a giant red dot in the distance—or was it small and close?—but Naruto couldn't make out what it was. The more he stared, it felt like the larger it got._

" _This is your mind. Everyone has their own unique setting. The memories will come much easier if you find it yourself. Reach out and travel to that point in time." an ethereal voice called to him. Inoichi._

 _Naruto closed his mind's eye and focused. He remembered the cool encroaching night air, the feeling of his feet touching the ground, him putting his little frog wallet away, then adjusting his hat._

 _They were there._

 _The street was clearer than the dusk-night sky. He could only see his own line of vision, this also being true with Inoichi._

 _He could count the milliseconds until the inevitable passing. He felt his head look up slightly._

 _Then it happened—a flash of_ _ **red**_ _and_ _ **black**_ _so bright yet so short…_

 _And it was over. Nothing. His actual self had seen just as much as his memory self had. He hadn't really looked up at her. Just caught a glimpse of her dark brown hair. In other words, this was entirely __useless_ _._

 _But it kept playing. He couldn't stop it._

 _A short jump happened. He seemed to hit the fast forward button on the empty portion of walking._

 _But when it slowed… all he could make out were the_ _ **blood and symbols**_ _. The_ _ **mutilated corpses**_ _, and the_ _ **red painted**_ _street. The bodies—_ _ **29**_ _exactly, were in his view. They were all he could focus on. His automatic reaction was that he wanted to throw up again, but he couldn't. It was his mind—there wasn't even a body here to produce the vomit._

 _It lasted for_ _4 minutes, 42 seconds_ _ **.**_ _He hadn't even known that he stared at it for that long. But being forced to watch it for this long without phasing out, was_ _sickening_ _._

 _ **Mind Eject**_

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open and his hand came up to cover his mouth. He keeled over to the floor, expecting to free the large amount of water he had drank from the fountain before he left the academy, from his stomach. Nothing happened. No stomach convulsions or anything.

The blonde heard the vague sound of stumbling behind him, but didn't turn.

"Naruto!" the Third called out to him, grabbing the blonde boy's shoulder.

The Hokage looked up at the Yamanaka man. A shake of the head was his answer. They had found out—no, _confirmed_ only one thing.

This girl was undoubtedly an Uchiha.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **(1)** Ami, the one who bullied Sakura. She's a bit less of a.. bitch.. in this though. ** _( Future Impassive Purple: I mean, it's a Naru/Ami pairing, she better be at least redeemable, also, sorry about the potential plot hole with Inoichi and the mind walk and stuff.)_  
**

 **Give me your opinions, did I do good with the flashback sparring scene? I tried to be realistic about it. They're literally 8, so.. no crazy maneuvers yet. Just basic throw kick, dodge, throwing punch, dodge. With Sasuke though, I added a bit extra—because in canon he seems to be capable of such things at that age.**

 **Oh. Right. Poor Sasuke… He died.  
**

 **Also, a note about Naruto's future abilities—sealing WILL NOT play a very big role in this. It may play a very small part, but he isn't isn't even going to be Kakashi level. I have something special planned.**


	3. The Gallant Jiraiya

**I'm here with the third chapter! Thank you all for your reviews, follows, and favorites; even to this—what I would consider—'only decent' story.**

 **I edit and fixed up the last chapter a bit to fit more of what I was going for. It didn't change all that much, but a few words were swapped (for a different context feel) and spelling errors corrected. When I reread it, it just didn't give off the right vibe near the end.**

 **But back to this chapter. Writing this one was a** _ **pain**_ **. I still don't think that it's** _ **completely**_ **right in my eyes, but I can always redo it later too, if it's bad enough to require it. The character dynamics are mostly there, but I'm not sure if I maybe gave them** _ **too much**_ **personality. Or not enough? I don't know anymore.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy!**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _Naruto walked out of the Hokage's office, and into the cool weather, his hat bill shadowing his thoughtful and philosophical expression._

 _Much to his surprise; the scene was_ _bearable_ _this time—that did however_ _ **did**_ _**not**_ _mean he wanted to see it. Why did his mind automatically replay the last part? Was it because they were so close in time; did they just link?_

 _But, you know what? Honestly, he didn't care. He still had a few rare nightmares about that moment, even now. So seeing it again wouldn't change much._

 _Just this time, he was awake, and more liable to act upon ingrained human instinct._

 _But he still found it difficult to swallow. That much death couldn't be simply ignored,_ _could_ _it…?_

 _So then why did he feel that it shouldn't phase him very much? Would those thoughts make him a monster? In his opinion, both parts yes_ _and_ _no._

 _Yes; because it was immoral. It was inhumane, and a terrible mindset to have._ _He would_ _ **never**_ _let himself fall so low as to just_ _ignore_ _death. He wasn't a completely sociopathic frenzy killer._

 _Yet at the same time—_ _no_ _; because in reality, it was_ _just_ _blood_ _. It was_ _just_ _punctured skin_ _._ _Just_ _markings on the ground_ _. Right?_

 _As he had read in a book once. Humans were made up of 65% Oxygen; what animals and people actually breathed, shocker—18% Carbon; trees, diamonds, etc—10% Hydrogen; the_ _most abundant_ _known element on earth—3% Nitrogen, and 1.5% calcium, along with a whole host of a miniscule amount of other elements._

 _So should logic come in front of human emotion? This debate was as old as science itself. Or was it philosophy? A debate his young mind shouldn't be having now, but he wanted to learn the answer before he actually became a shinobi. Before he had to do such things as spill another humans blood._

 _The comparison to nature, though… were both scenarios really as different as he thought? Was he drawing lines between both too sharply? Because it wasn't entirely adding up._

 _What if another bobcat killed the one he had seen in the forest—just for a simple thing as one of the many rabbits that were so abundant in the entirety of the elemental nations? Would he even feel pity? Or would he just call it nature?_

 _The question itself was rhetorical. In this context—when compared to humans—it would just be nature._

 _Murder. A legal term from definition, with the word meaning; 'the act of killing another being; specifically, a human'—however, that didn't mean that the same term couldn't be applied to anything else._

 _The fact stayed the same with both; one kills, the other dies._

 _But didn't change the fact that it was_ _ **murder**_ _. Something that absolutely_ _shouldn't_ _and_ _wouldn't_ _be totally ignored, or become 'used to'._

 _Naruto stared down at the roadway he was walking, his thoughts clashing. He came to a conclusion, but it wasn't an answer yet. It was another set of questions._

 _Why was everything s_ _o…_ _questionable_ … _? Was it was just a matter of opinion?_

 _To say he cared about a random bobcat in the forest would be a lie. Why would he? The animal held no sentimental value or emotional attachment in his eyes. Animals died every day. But then again, so did people._

 _So it was **value**_ _in one over another?_

 _From these questions, he came up with his answer._

 _ **Yes**_ _. That's_ _ **exactly**_ _what it was._

 **Flashback End**

* * *

 **6 Days Later**

 _Week 7 of Shinobi Academy. 13 Days after the Uchiha Massacre._

They were having a quiz—an activity this teacher liked to do very much. This was to Naruto's favor, as he actually didn't act biased towards him, and actually gave credit where it was due. Unlike Pond-scum and Mizuki-teme.

"This one may be a bit advanced for some of you; 'What are the most accessible vital blood pathways in the human body, leading to the quickest bleed out time?'"

Naruto raised his hand, and their Anatomy teacher—a retired medic-nin turned hospital surgeon—called on him.

"The _Brachial_ , _Jugular_ vein, and _Femoral_." he answered simply, to which the man nodded. Most of the medically uninclined kids blinked.

"Correct. How about what organs are the most important to stay alive?"

Multiple hands went up at this. The question was rather easy. So easy, even _Kiba_ knew it.

"You, miss Yamanaka." the teacher called.

"The heart, brain, liver, lungs, and kidneys." she answer fluidly. The man nodded again, before glancing at the clock.

"Oh, look at the time… Ok then, you're dismissed to go back to your home-room." everyone immediately gathered their belongings and study books, and started filing out of the room, Naruto following behind with most of the slower kids; like Choji and Shikamaru.

"Hey Naruto." The dull and lazy Shikamaru caught his attention. He gave the dark haired boy a questioning look. Nobody ever really talked to him…

"What do you like so much about that class?" he asked. Choji also wondered the same thing, even supplying his own words. "Yeah, all of that jumbles up so much inside my head. How are you so good at it?"

Naruto tilted his head. "I guess it's because I think it will be the most useful. I'm absolutely sure that I could survive without being able to recall the number of shinobi clans before the hidden villages formed." he informed.

Shikamaru and Choji nodded.

"That makes sense. But all those complicated terms to remember… Oh yeah; hey Shikamaru, did you ever get your dad to—"

And at that, Naruto was lost to the conversation. Not that he didn't expect it. Choji didn't seem to like being in his presence all that much, and Shikamaru looked to be completely neutral.

 _'Whatever.'_

Anyway, more urgent things were on his mind. Being as their next lessons were something he dreaded beyond normal comprehension—Secondary Mathematics. **(1)**

* * *

 **3 Hours Later**

"Hajime!" the moss-green haired Fukuro-sensei shouted out, initiating the spar between two students. _Inuzuka Kiba_ vs _Haruno Sakura_. Two heavy hitting fighters, the latter being far more surprisingly so.

No one expected the pink haired civilian to rise up the ranks in taijutsu so quickly. Well, actually—it was less skill and more…

" _ **RAAGH, TAKE THIS!**_ " that.

Naruto sat under a tree—one of the few not taken by other students—and watched on, studying their moves quietly. The ' **Loud Mouth Dog** ', vs the ' **Wailing Rhinoceros** '; their classroom monikers.

Neither were all that skilled, in his opinion. Kiba was fast, and that made up for his lack of skill. Sakura was slow, but—as he had overheard Pond-scum put it—hit like _Might Gai_ —whoever that was—on drugs.

But yeah. It sounded about right.

Every time she landed a solid on one of her opponents, it was almost impossible to stay in the ring. The only one who could do that was Choji. Fortunately, she had one critical weakness that everyone—except Kiba, who was determined to prove himself stronger purely in the physical department by tanking her punches—used to their advantage.

She hardly ever blocked. And rarely kicked.

If you could sneak one in, without getting smashed out of the arena due to her massive offensive capability, you could end it quickly. However—she always cried when someone hit her. A glass cannon; so everyone felt bad.

But as some might say; 'No _guts_ , no _glory_.'.

Kiba had none of the _guts_ that were so important to that equation, taking one right in the core, knocking the breath out of him. Even though he braced, he stumbled back at an astonishing pace. Right past the boundary line, and onto his backside.

"Winner, Sakura!" Fukuro-sensei announced, as Sakura stepped out of the arena throttling her fist and shouting.

" _ **SHANARO!**_ " **(2)**

"Next up, Komurasaki Ami, vs Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto stood up and brushed himself off. He watched his opponent flash the universal 'loser' sign to Haruno, while she walked the the arena alongside him. Sakura was fuming in the background at the purple haired girl's insult, as they stepped to opposite side of the ring.

"Ready?" Pond-scum asked, to which both nodded, getting in their stances.

Komurasaki Ami… she didn't really specialize in anything taijutsu wise. But she ruled book smarts-to-logic conversion. If she read it in a book, she could apply it to life just as easily.

If Ami wasn't so bad in the physical areas such as what they were currently engaged in—other than bukijutsu, something she was pretty decent at—and her lack of teamwork, she would definitely get Kunoichi of the Year in this first year of the academy.

Right now the most likely contender for that would be Yamanaka Ino.

Naruto watched her stare him down with determination. They seemed to have become rivals without him noticing, over the past couple of days. He always did better than her in Anatomy and Chakra Control—but it was the latter that made him enemy number 2, right before Ino and right after Sakura. That is, if the pink haired girl even counted.

"Hajime!"

Ami immediately came at the fur hatted blonde, throwing a punch, to which he sidestepped. Naruto then proceeded to step on her foot and use the backside of his arm to push her out of the arena. She tried to grab him to bring him down with her, but he let go of her foot just in time to avoid the swipe and for her to catch herself—foot outside the ring.

"Loser; Ami!" Naruto didn't even bother getting irritated at the announcement. Ami just grumbled lowly and walked away. He simply walked back to his spot under the tree and sat down yet again, folding his arms behind his head.

' _That was short.'_

A few more matches passed by, nothing very interesting, and then it was time to head back inside to gather their belongings for the end of the day.

Then they were off for break.

* * *

 **1 Hour Before**

" _Jiraiya, I want you to take Naruto with you to find Tsunade."_

 _The toad sennin blinked at his sensei. He wanted_ _him_ — _one of the most, if not_ _the_ _most irresponsible adults this world has ever been_ _graced_ _with, along with being a best selling_ _smut_ _author—to take an_ _8 year old boy_ _across fire country, in search of a woman he hadn't heard from in nearly_ _2 years_ _? His response was what anyone in his position would have been._

" _Are you you going senile, sensei?" Jiraiya asked flatly. Hiruzen's eye twitched._

" _No. I'm being quite serious. Naruto—to my knowledge—has no friends, no family—something_ _you_ _would know well about," this struck a chord in Jiraiya, and the man wasn't even done speaking._

" _The only social contact he ever willingly initiates is with the ANBU," at this point, Hiruzen pretty much had his student played like a harp, but he still wasn't done. The finishing blow had yet to have been delivered._

" _And all I'm asking of you, is to take_ _your godson_ _on a—less than week long—trip to find_ _your_ — _because she is, don't deny it—_ _unacknowledged lover_ _, in order to bring her back home so that_ _I_ _can retire from this damned position and die peacefully. Hopefully sometime within the next few years." the last part was said with utter seriousness._

" _He's on break for the next 7 days."_

 _Jiraiya sighed. Well when he put it like that…_

* * *

 **Now**

Naruto stepped through the door to his apartment, and stared at the large built white haired man sitting in his living room.

' _Who… is he?'_

The blonde decided to ignore the man for now—it had been a long day, he hadn't had lunch, and he was thirsty.

The man kept staring at him, though, as he walked to his fridge. After a moment of silence with his hand on the door handle, he sighed and turned to address the very obvious problem.

"Who are you, and what exactly are you doing in my house?" Jiraiya sweat dropped.

This kid… he needed to be educated. Jiraiya stood, struck a kabuki pose.

"What a grand question, kid… I am the gallant and handsome _Jiraiya_! The toad sennin of _Mt. Myoboku_!" Naruto was clearly not impressed—in fact, he looked several times more worn out then when he had first stepped through the door.

"Yeah, and? What are you doing in _my_ house?" Naruto repeated violet-blue eyes trained on the man. Jiraiya's eyes twitched.

"You're supposed to be impressed, kid." he grumbled. Jiraiya just noticed something; he quirked his eyes at the strange brown fur hat the kid wore. There was a discrepancy here. Kushina never wore a hat. Minato hated hats, and only wore the Hokage headdress when it was required. Why was the kid wearing a hat?

He voiced his opinion on said head accessory.

"Kid, what's with the strange hat?" Jiraiya questioned, rhetorically, while chuckling. "C'mon, no _real shinobi_ wears a hat except for the Hokage." he walked forward and attempted to snatch the hat off of the blonde haired boy's head, but was quickly stopped by the sight of a kunai being thrust towards his incoming limb.

He quickly yanked it back with an unmanly squeak, lest he lose an appendage to a child barely a month and a half into his first year at the academy.

"Back off, weird old man. My hat." Naruto glared, his grip on the kunai not loosening. "Again, what are you doing in my house?"

He was seriously running out of nerves. And losing brain cells.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, "Look, the Third told me to break you out of your shell. You and me are going out of the village," he gestured with his hand "To hunt down the next Hokage, my teammate Tsunade. _Exciting_ right?" the white haired man gave an exaggerated thumbs up, flashing bright white teeth.

Naruto blinked. The old-man-Hokage sent him? Really?

"No thanks." the simple denial made Jiraiya's eye twitch again. The hell was up with this kid? When _he_ was his age, he took any chance he could get to go outside the village!

"Come on! There'll be exotic shops, great sights, sexy women—" Jiraiya paused. Who was he kidding, this kid was like, seven?! "—And _candy_ …"

Naruto gave the man a deadpan stare. How old did this moron think he was? Five?

"Sorry, pervy-pedophile, not interested." The toad sennin nearly screamed in horror. Pervy-pedophile?!

Opening the door to the refrigerator and grabbing a jug of water, Naruto closed it. The blonde then walked over to a wooden chair he had, and plopped himself down in it. He popped the cap on the jug, and started to drink the cool water. After a moment of silence between the two, Naruto continued to try and persuade the man to leave.

"Now, if you wouldn't mind… please leave. Pond-scum assigned us homework over the break…" Naruto requested him. Jiraiya blinked at the nickname the kid had given his teacher, then sighed, as he almost felt bad annoying him so much. "No can do. Sensei would have my ear. C'mon kid, gimme a break!"

"You need the break? You're the one annoying _me_." the blonde grumbled.

The toad sennin promptly ignored this statement. "I can help you learn some new techniques... " Naruto raised an eyebrow. What on earth could this guy possibly—

—Oh. Right. This guy was supposedly one of the strongest shinobi in the Land of Fire.

 _Easily forgotten._

There was more silence, as Naruto reevaluated, then contemplated the offer.

"…Fine. I'll come with you." Naruto caved. Jiraiya yelled a silent victory in his head. "On the condition that you teach me something _useful_."

A smirk grew on the white haired sennin's face. "Oh that's well within my capabilities."

Jiraiya had already thought about this, and planned on teaching the kid something. The answer of 'what' was rather obvious…

* * *

 **Unknown Area, Same Day**

"Hey, little girl!" a slicked back silver haired man called out to a dark brown haired teen girl sleeping on a tree shaded bench.

She opened her eyes and looked up at the man carrying the large red scythe. "What do you want, asshole?" she grumbled, irritated that her rest had been interrupted.

"I heard we got a new follower to the great **Jashin-sama**. I'm guessing you're it?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. How did the man even find her? Did he actually get an answer back in his prayers? She shrugged at the question. Technically she did follow most of the religion… "Sure…"

He scowled at the lackadaisical response; the seeming disrespect to his worshipped god. "What did you even do to earn his calling? Kill your little boyfriend?"

She let a ghost of a smile cross her lips.

"I guess you could say that…"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **(1)** The kids in the academy (In this story) have already been through basic regular schooling; learning reading, writing, and mathematics.

 **(2)** I believe 'Shanaro' roughly translates to 'Hell Yeah'

 **And we have our antagonist back in the picture again!**

 **To be honest, I think I might eventually rewrite this story entirely—seeing as I obviously didn't plan it out well enough—a maybe start off with something a bit easier to write for my uncreative brain.**

 **But your opinions on this story do matter! I still would like to know whether you people of the fanfic community like this or not. REVIEW!**

 **Peace!**


	4. Beginning The Search

**Chapter 4, this one was even more of a pain than the last. I'm hoping that doesn't become a trend.**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

Naruto rubbed his temples under his hat. They—the brain cells—were dying by the multiples now.

When he had said to "Teach me something 'useful'.", there was clearly a difference between his and Jiraiya's definition of the word. A very _large_ difference.

First off—he was _eight_. Not even out of the academy. No shinobi status whatsoever. He didn't even know any basic techniques other than the leaf sticking exercise, led alone any actual attacks.

And yet the man wanted to teach him _this?_

How many academy students know how to perform A-rank techniques? If one answered ' _a minimal to negligible percentage_ ', they would be correct.

Naruto just stared at the white haired sennin, unamused. "When I said ' _useful_ ' … I had something else in mind… How is _this_ going to help me?"

Jiraiya's jaw dropped. How could this kid _not_ see this as useful?!

The spiralling blue orb of energy suspending over the man's hand, that had previously been driven through a tree—in order to demonstrate effectiveness, in which it destroyed said tree—fizzled out in a dispersal of chakra.

"Kid; this is the _Fourth Hokage's_ **Rasengan**! How could it _not_ be useful?!"

Naruto gave the man a deadpan expression. "Oh I don't know? Possibly because I'm only 8? I'm not even a _genin_ yet. Teach me something that will _help me_. Like—for example—those surface walking techniques; those are more my level, aren't they?"

Jiraiya frowned. He hadn't thought of that. That also meant that summoning was out of the question, didn't it? Damnit.

"Fine, kid… I'll start you on something _simple_." he picked up a recently fallen leaf off of the road, and handed it to the blonde child. Naruto raised a brow under his hat.

' _A leaf?'_ What exactly was this supposed to help him with?

"I want you to split it—straight down the middle. If it shreds or explodes, try it again. If you can complete that, I'll teach you something 'useful'…" the man directed, grumbling the last part. That should keep him busy for a while. There was _no way_ the kid could split it all the way through, but it did increase control. Maybe he would teach him something like the **Kawarimi** if he managed to get something close to a clean cut. That was pretty handy.

Naruto stared at the leaf in concentration. It was obviously some sort of chakra exercise. He was only _decent_ with those, but this sounded easy enough. Cut the leaf.

It _Immediately_ shred as soon as his chakra _touched_ it. He blinked.

' _Well. This might be a bit challenging…'_

* * *

 **4 Hours Later**

They were finally coming upon another village, the sun was steadily dropping out the sky; giving way for the moon, and Naruto had been trying to split the leaf for all of about 3 hours between breaks during the walk.

He liked a little challenge, but this was getting slightly ridiculous.

As of yet, every time he picked one up, he had only managed to get the leaf to cut in half. It was a small victory, but it always crumpled after that point, so he couldn't declare a success towards the lecherous toad sage _just yet_.

Although; he had run into a small problem—he had been stuck in a stalemate for the past 40 minutes. No progress was being made, unlike before.

But the hatted blonde wouldn't give up just yet—however; the toad sennin had other plans.

"Hey kid, we're— _well I'm_ —going to meet a contact in order to help find Tsunade—are you all good?"

Naruto waved his hand dismissively, and dropped the last of his gathered leaf supply. "I'm fine, pervy-frog-san."

Jiraiya's eye twitched, annoyed. " **Toads** _not_ frogs!"

"They're both amphibious…" Naruto quipped, staring the man down.

"Yeah, well dugongs are mammals, too! Do _we_ look like dugongs?" the white haired sage retorted in a rhetorical question, lightly glaring back at the boy.

Many people on the streets were looking at the man strangely; probably wondering why he was bothering to argue—with a child that looked to be less than a ⅕th his age, and half his size—about frogs and toads.

Naruto shrugged, "Point taken, pervy-toad-san." then proceeded to adjust his hat. "So where will _I_ be while you're off meeting this contact?"

" _You_ will be waiting near, or in, the shop across the street. Buy something if you want, I don't care, but don't wander off or talk to any suspicious strangers." Jiraiya told him, pointing to what must have been the shop he was referring to.

On the other side of the road, a little further down, was—as Naruto had already guessed—a gentleman's club. Yeah… He was definitely going in there to perv-out.

He shrugged his shoulders again. Perverts would be perverts.

Naruto watched him walk to the entrance, turning back to glance at him—his eyes practically reading a warning out, to behave—then disappearing into the building. The blonde breathed a sigh, then made his way over to the lowly occupied shop.

"Please come again!" he heard and someone passed him in the entrance way. A brown haired heavy set man—who he guessed was the cashier—ignored him, and went back to the book he had been reading previously.

Naruto started looking at the wares, having nothing else to do. They were wide in variety as it was a multipurpose shop. Books, household supplies, cooking ingredients, and things of that nature lined the shelves. Since he didn't have any interest in the miscellaneous items, he went over to the bookshelves.

It had a decent selection, nothing as good as the shops in Konoha… but that was to be expected. Naruto picked out a random book in which the title appealed to him, a read a few pages.

It was named the 'The Story of Water Law', about a pirate-surgeon who could cut through anything with his scalpel sharp blade. Cool.

The genre was fiction, and one could tell it was such. For example, what was a Submarine? The author described it as an enclosed ship that could move down below the water. Interesting and creative.

He liked it, and it was rather cheaply priced.

Picking out one of the less worn books from the back, he walked up to the cashier. Knocking on the counter, he placed the book down.

The man looked up from his book, raising a brow, "Do you have the money for this, young man?"

It was a question he got a lot. He held up the toad wallet, and the man nodded. "100 Ryo please."

Naruto already had the money in hand, giving it to the man to let him count it. When he was given the ok, he took his book, and stepped out of the shop to go to the small food bar next door. He was hungry.

* * *

 **15 Minutes Before**

Jiraiya—contrary to what might have been believed—was _not_ in fact going in there to give into his manly urges. He was more adult than that—given the situation—and didn't want Naruto to be out there alone for too long. The boy—no matter how ' _uneasy'_ he was—still happened to be the child he was granted the title of godfather to by one of his favorite pupils.

Sitting down in the back seat of the room he had purchased, he waited for his contact. He didn't have to wait long as only a few minute later a lightly curvaceous long haired brunette opened the door. She was dressed in a short light green skirt, and a revealing black tie-top. As she entered, she closed the door behind her, swaying her hips and coming over to sit on his lap.

"Hey handsome~ what do you need in this fine establishment today?"

Jiraiya smirked perversely for a moment, but shook the expression off. This was important, his duty to Sarutobi-sensei.

"I need to know where a certain… _debt ridden blonde_ … happens to be. If you happen to know, miss Azumi?" he asked lowly, starting to massage the young woman's back.

She hummed—nothing about the blonde sennin's _current_ location came to mind. The last she had heard from the traveling merchants in the network, the drunk gambler was somewhere in Tanzaku Gai, south of the small town they were in now—although, that was a few months ago.

The blonde slug summoner tended to move around a lot. It was possible she was still there, but very unlikely.

"The _latest_ I have is that she was in Tanzaku, that was in late autumn… I don't know where she could be now, though…" she lowly groaned at the feeling of his hands. She wished the rest of her _clients_ would do this more often. Working this job was a literal pain in the neck and back…

Jiraiya sighed at the lack of information, but that was to be expected. This pretty much set his next destination to search for her—hopefully she was still there. If not, maybe someone could have clues?

"That said, are you here for the usual company? Or are you on business?" Azumi turned and asked tilting her head in question. Jiraiya finished up his massage, and frowned.

"Unfortunately, the second… The Third requested me to find her. You did hear about the Uchiha Massacre, right?" the brunette nodded, how could she not? The news swept like wind through the Elemental Nations. Most of the other hidden villages were more than likely celebrating about the tragedy.

"Yeah, well, the old man has finally slipped under the pressure of the villagers demands to find and execute the killer… He wants me to find Tsunade to replace him." Jiraiya usually wasn't this loose lipped, even to some of his closest of informants. The only reason he was telling the young woman was because it wasn't exactly important; it would become public within the month, anyway, as he would likely renounce his position far before they even returned with the woman.

Azumi understood, and got up from the man's lap, turning around to give a respectful bow to him. "Well then, Mr. Jiraiya, I wish you luck~." she said her farewell, and with that, she exited the room.

Jiraiya got up after watching the young woman leave. He often wondered why she worked as these kinds of places at all; she was too young, and he knew for a fact that she was smarter than most girls her age. She could even have potential to be a kunoichi.

Though, he guessed that it was her decision to make.

He made his way out of the room, then the building; dropping a few bills in the tip jar on his way out.

* * *

 **Next Morning, 8:00 am**

Naruto was really getting irritated with these leaves. He _was_ making progress, but it was so small that it was _barely_ noticeable.

He and Jiraiya had left the village a few hours ago, shortly after waking up, and he had been working on it since.

They had rented a hotel room so that Naruto wouldn't be left to the night, and then Jiraiya went to talk to a few more of his informants just in case they had heard anything more. They didn't.

So now they were heading south, to Tanzaku Gai. A large and very rich town with a long history of being somewhat of a gambling central.

He applied chakra to another leaf. It split only a half of the way, and then stopped. Again. "Hey, pervy-toad-sage; I think this might be a little bit advanced for me…" he dropped the leaf.

Jiraiya looked over at him, and saw the annoyed expression on the boy's face. It made him chuckle. He remembered when Minato did the exercise. It was almost the same for him, except he was much older… and actually knew how to mold chakra decently well.

"Of course it is. You think I would give you something easy? How far along have you come with it, anyway?"

Naruto sighed. "Halfway." to this, the toad sage nodded. A small nick; just like Minato—

" _ **HALFWAY!?**_ " Jiraiya shouted in shock and disbelief. No. That shouldn't have been possible, even Minato couldn't get it until he was around 14!

"Yeah; look…" Naruto took another leaf, and used his chakra to put a split in the leaf. The same as all the others. "See, barely halfway through…" the irritation was palpable.

Jiraiya could barely believe his eyes. This was an _elemental_ chakra exercise; an 8 year old sure as hell shouldn't be able to do it!

The hatted blonde suddenly stopped walking. A revelation was had. Why the heck was the man shouting out like he was in shock—?

"Pervy-pedo; you sound _surprised_ … Did you not _expect_ me to be able to do it?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man, his violet-blue orbs locking onto the sennin's own.

"Well… Not _really_. _Maybe_ just a small _nick_ …" the man admitted, then screamed out when the blonde landed a kick straight up between the man's legs. The man keeled, then dropped to the floor holding his lower regions, and curling into the fetal position.

"Why the _hell_ would you give me it then, asshole?!" Naruto hissed, even more irritated. "What; were you just going to stall me out on this until we could get back to the village?" he continued, glaring at the man who was gritting his teeth in pain on the dirt road.

"No… That was just something meant to keep you occupied until I could figure out what to teach you…" the man groaned, and Naruto's palm was introduced to his face.

' _Seriously?'_

The man was a _sennin_. The kind that society claimed knew _hundreds_ of techniques. He _wasn't even_ asking for him to teach him some crazy elaborate jutsu—in fact, he didn't _want_ one! Just something ' _useful'_. Was that too much to ask?

The brain cells were basically committing suicide at this point.

* * *

 **Unknown Location**

"Lady Tsunade!" a voice called out to the large crowd of people in the casino. A short black haired girl in her mid-late teens carrying a small pig passed multiple people playing and betting on card games, slot machines, and the like. She honestly hated this part of her master's life. It was so— _self destructive_. At least, to the blonde woman's anyway…

She never won, and it was terrible on their budget—which was low to begin with.

A blonde woman raised an arm, sake bottle in hand. By the count of chips… the sennin just went all in.

Shizune groaned, and Tonton made the about same noise.

* * *

 **Whooo-hoo. Please review with any criticism you may have. I strive to improve.**


	5. Tanzaku Gai

**Hey all you new 170 and some-odd viewers compared to last chapter (That's crazy by the way) and you followers from the previous! I just want to thank thank you all!**

 **Another chapter for you guys, I hope that it's better than the last, and though it seemed easy (from my POV, rereading it) because that one was so simple in execution… No. It was terrible. I'm not sure if I was just off with ideas, or just couldn't quite grasp the direction I wanted to head, but yeah. Probably going to edit it (it would be with the same plot and such, just better flowing) when I get some time that I feel like dedicating to it. But for the foreseeable future, it's going to stay like that…**

 **Onward with chapter 5!**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

 _It turned out that leaf exercise was_ _actually_ _useful. In a small and semi-unhelpful way—as of now; for increasing the chakra flow and control in his hands._

 _He couldn't really_ _walk_ _up any trees yet—he started working on that on his own, after he decided that the pervy-toad wasn't exactly prime, or even good, teacher material—however he could stick to them with his_ _hands_ _like an expert. Yet, as previously stated, that wasn't going to help him much at this point in time._

 _Actually, that wasn't_ _entirely_ _true. It_ _did_ _serve one purpose._

 _The hatted blonde attempted to run up the large oak tree yet again—making it up about 2.4 meters (8 feet) before slipping off. He quickly grabbed the tree with his 'magnetic hands', then pulled the kunai that was stored in his shorts out, and carved a line marking his stopping point. This is what he had been doing for the past hour or so while Jiraiya prepared lunch._

 _Naruto dropped to the ground, then backed off for another run. He sprinted at the tree again, hitting the base and making it up several more steps than before. Surprisingly so, he was making_ _excellent_ _progress._

 _They were next headed for Tanzaku Gai, a few hours walk southwest of their position._

 _Speaking of—the multi-hour walk in between destinations—the small town they were in previously, to where they stopped—was incredibly boring; his book had helped with such matters, to which he was thankful that he had purchased it. Jiraiya had tried making entertaining conversation—such as a long list of reasons why toads were better than frogs, and the like—although it was mostly ignored by the blonde, so that died out pretty quickly. Now they just listened to birds, and Jiraiya kept watch for bandits—which were quite a rarity in the Land of Fire, but still a problem nonetheless._

" _Hey Kid, food's ready!" he heard the sage inform him, and stopped before trying another attempt at the tree._

 _Food was of slightly higher priority. Being hungry_ _sucked_ _._

 _Naruto came over and sat down on the fallen log Jiraiya had found. The sage poured, then handed him a bowl of what looked like potato soup and he started to eat. It was much better than he expected._

" _So, kid…" Jiraiya caught the blonde's attention. "I've been thinking… We_ _obviously_ _have our differences in styles of fighting and what we consider_ _useful_ … _So, since I_ _did_ _promise I would teach you something—the leaf thing doesn't count—I was wondering… what do_ _you_ _see as useful?"_

 _Naruto looked up from his bowl, and stared at the man, locking eyes with him. He seemed to be willing to take an opinion into consideration, instead of just trying to have him learn some powerful jutsu. That was good._

 _Well; If it worked and the man actually did have something he was ready to teach him, it would only turn in his favor… Naruto sighed._

" _Something that will help me stay alive, or improve myself." Jiraiya nodded along, understanding. The blonde continued._

" _I don't want anything flashy. While that blue sphere—the_ _ **Rasengan**_ _?—looked powerful and all… that would only get me killed if I didn't have any supplements to back it up—not to mention that it's probably far too advanced for me. Basics first." he finished explaining, and Jiraiya blinked._

 _He had known this already, but, this kid was much smarter than he gave him credit for. Not normal by way of child standards… That should have been expected, though._

 _Focusing back on the subject at hand, however, what would he teach the boy? It would have to be something he couldn't just learn through trial and error—such as what he was doing now._

 _Jiraiya squinted at his soup. What did he have that fit those criteria?_

 _An idea came to him. Something so simple, that he was hard pressed to call it much of a technique._

 _But it was_ _perfect_ _._

* * *

 **Tanzaku Gai**

Naruto and Jiraiya stepped through the town gates just as the sun was making its way out of the sky, and immediately saw a large 'castle' at the south western side, directly in front of them.

It was huge; the centerpiece of the town.

They passed multiple people going into shops and whatnot, busy with their lives. The atmosphere was rich, telling one that the town spent much of its funds in keeping the place clean and of high quality.

Naruto was in awe. Never had he seen a place quite like it; after all, Konoha didn't dedicate nearly as much to the appearance of the village compared to the quality of its shinobi. With good reason—the latter was far more important for a Hidden Village.

Both males made their way down the streets, passing businesses and apartment complexes alike. They were apparently going to get a room to drop their stuff off, then go to meet another ' _informant'_ , as Jiraiya had told him. Also, since it was a normal business, he was allowed to come this time.

As they walked, they looked around for available housing. Picking out a cheap hotel, they rented a room for the night. Dropping his stuff on the bed, Naruto checked himself over for anything he may need.

Kunai—check, hat—check, wallet—check. He was good.

"Ok, kid. When we go to meet this guy—Takayuki—just stay quiet. He might be a bit of a slimy asshole but unfortunately those kinds of people are inevitable. Don't make eye contact for too long either; he gets paranoid really easily. Maybe even from a kid." Jiraiya said seriously. "I don't entirely trust him, but he's the one that all information flows through around here."

Naruto nodded. He could do quiet.

Stepping out of the room, Jiraiya locked the door with the key the desk manager had given him, and they made their way onto to streets yet again.

It only took a few minutes before they turned down a rather crowded road, walking quite a ways before coming to a large casino and bar named 'The Big Fish'. The name was extremely unoriginal, but neither commented.

Stepping through the doors, and into the building. Immediately they were bombarded by the sight of all sorts of people at card-tables, slot machines, roulette machines; if it existed, it was more than likely in this building and with someone playing to win big.

The bar was all the way at the very back, to which both Jiraiya and Naruto started to make their way towards. They saw a average sized, dark haired man dressed in a black haori, red shirt, and dark pants off to the side talking to a group of 3 men and a woman. Jiraiya tapped his unknowing godson's shoulder and nudged his head towards the man almost unnoticeably.

If he had to guess, it was silent for ' _That's Takayuki, remember what I told you.'_

Naruto nodded, then gripped and adjusted his hat.

Both approached the counter, and the man immediately looked over to them—more precisely, Jiraiya. Naruto watched the man cautiously, as he gestured toward the other people standing there to leave. The group stood from the stools and walked past them.

Naruto _almost_ missed the hand signals they were giving each other. He narrowed his violet-blue eyes ever so slightly. Shinobi?

Jiraiya didn't seem to notice, as the white haired man sat on one of the stools. Turning his head away from the man behind the counter, he simply stood next to the sennin and watched the group of people leave.

"Jiraiya, what an _unexpected_ surprise! To what do I owe the pleasure~?" his voice was like a smooth talker's. Liquid.

Naruto turned his attention back towards the man, but heeded Jiraiya's warnings of avoiding eye contact. He simply sat at one of the barstools, face low towards the counter.

"Takayuki-san, it is nice to see you too. I need to call in a _favor_." the toad sage began, leaning forward. Takayuki gave a ghost of a frown, but again was all smiles. A change that wasn't missed.

"Ah. How may I help you, then?" he questioned, putting on a false expression of confusion. It was like he already knew what they were here for—what information Jiraiya wanted.

"I need to know where where Tsunade Senju may be located, if you happen to know? It's quite important." Takayuki gave an even smile, and shook his head.

"I'm afraid I don't think that she is still in town. I do believe that she left a while ago." the man continued. "Perhaps you should check Otafuku?" he suggested.

' _Lies.'_ Naruto thought. Jiraiya was along the same line of thinking. It was eerily obvious.

The white haired sage sighed, his face etched into faux disappointment. "That's unfortunate… I was really hoping to be able to find her here."

"Well, I apologize for the inconvenience. Now if you don't mind…" the man gestured to the other occupants sitting at the bar. Jiraiya nodded in understanding.

Getting out of their chairs, they made their way for the exit. They walked down the center aisle, to the doors.

Unbeknownst to them; five people watched the departure.

* * *

 **Outside**

"He was lying." Naruto called it and Jiraiya scoffed.

"Like a rug on the ground… Normally he isn't that compliant with information. I'm honestly surprised he didn't ask for money, as he usually does. He's as greedy as they come."

"So does that mean that she's here? If so, what would be the point in lying?" the blonde questioned the validity of the man's dishonesty. "Unless he was just trying to get rid of us…?"

"Exactly." Jiraiya confirmed, then sighed, and looked up in the sky. Night was breaking.

"Let's get some food, then head back to the room. We'll search for Tsunade tomorrow—if she actually is here, then she wouldn't leave at this time anyway."

Naruto nodded in agreement.

They decided to stop at a small food stand for dinner. Sitting in the stools next to the bar, Jiraiya rung the service bell. It took a few moments and they heard the sound of metal being dropped, but eventually an old woman came out of the back.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the woman asked, kindly, smiling.

"Ah yes, hmm… I would like a beef Kushiyaki and… **(1)** " Jiraiya looked over at his blonde traveling companion. Naruto gestured to have to same. "Oh, make that two of the Kushiyaki please; with waters." he finished the order.

The woman nodded, and went into the back to prepare their drinks and food. Everything was quiet for a few moments, until she came out with two glasses of water. She set them down in front of them, giving another smile, before returning to the back.

For lack of a better subject to talk about, Naruto decided to converse about the events of the next day. "Where do we look for her tomorrow?"

"Our best bet is casinos and bars. A lot like the one we just visited—there are a bunch of them here, and she's a betting fool." Jiraiya told the blonde boy, who was casually sipping at his drink.

Sparse conversation was made until their food came out nearly 20 minutes later, when the woman came out of the back and set the beef and vegetables down for them to eat.

"Thank you." they thanked the cook and proceeded to tuck in to the food. The more the blonde ate, the more he felt… not satisfied, but rather… tired?

Why would he—? The thought, though sluggish, came to him quickly.

It was poison.

Jiraiya's face was the first to hit the table, Naruto's following soon after. Not a noise was made.

The woman that prepared the food was no longer an old lady, but rather a young, dark blue haired kunoichi.

* * *

 **Unknown Amount Of Time Later**

It was obvious that the poison _should_ have lasted longer. It didn't.

Naruto's eyes slowly opened. The light level in the dark forest was minimal but squinting, he could make out 3 different figures—two men and a woman.

He didn't move. Or rather, he _couldn't_. There was rope binding his hands.

Two of which sounded like they were having an argument, the blue haired woman on the losing side. The words came into focus.

"—couldn't possibly expect me to _kill_ the kid?! Like _**hell**_ will I have some child's blood on my hands! He couldn't possibly be older than 8!" the woman shouted to the two men; one of which looked apathetic towards the situation, while the other was the one in the heated argument.

"I _don't care_ what your _fucking conscience_ is telling you! We only need the damn toad-sage alive for the reward! If you won't kill the brat, I _will_!" the man finalized, and the woman turned away gritting her teeth.

"Fine… Just do it quickly; I don't want to see it…" she said, and walked away into the trees.

Naruto watched as the man approached him and grabbed him by the shirt; dragging him behind another tree. He felt a small sword being placed to his throat, tip down.

"Sorry kid, just business." he said before bringing the weapon up, and slamming it down—

That's what he had _planned._ It didn't happen like that.

Naruto had less than a half second to think about how he would stay alive as the blade came down. Unfortunately—or _very_ fortunately—his body acted far quicker.

The blonde _didn't_ _ **scream**_ when he broke his _own_ left hand to get out of the binding.

He also _didn't_ _ **scream**_ when the short sword the man aimed to stab him with was driven _through his arm_ , between his Ulna and Radius.

The blood splattered across his blank face, staining it.

If he were entirely there, he would have said that it hurt enough to want to make him go _unconscious_. However—

 _He_ _ **wasn't**_ _exactly entirely_ _ **there**_ _._

His left iris was _**blood red**_ , his pupil slit. His right eye stayed the same, violet-blue.

Naruto kicked the man's lower leg out from under him in the same instance, forcing the man to drop. The heterochromatic eyed boy slid the blade out of his arm while getting up, all in one swift movement; then stabbed into the shocked shinobi's neck before the man had a chance to move.

" _ **HELP—!**_ " he screamed before the blade penetrated. It ripped through his jugular.

The _**blood**_ _sprayed_.

Naruto yanked the red covered blade out of the neck, and swayed to the side. The previously apathetic man who had been sitting down in the clearing, rushed over, and widened his eyes in horror when he saw the scene.

But where was the—?

" _ **HEY GUYS! GET THE FUCK OVER HERE! SOMEONE KILLED—!**_ "

 ***SQUELCH***

The blade pierced another throat.

Naruto _dragged_ it out—letting the sanguine _gush_ —and stumbled into the clearing.

The blue haired woman came back at the sound of her comrades screams. She looked around for the killer, expecting another shinobi. Her eyes found only a boy covered in _**blood**_ , and holding a _**blade**_.

He stared at her from under his hat brim. His left arm hung limp and his red eye was practically glowing.

She spotted the bodies of her comrades behind him. Each with a… _sword wound_. The woman stepped back slightly, shaking with fear overwhelming her features as the red eye bore into her very soul. Killing intent flooded the clearing.

She drew her sword, ready to defend herself from this—

— _ **demon**_.

She didn't need to.

Naruto swayed walking forward going for his next kill—only for his energy to wane. The blonde _lurched_ , and hit the ground on his knees. He fell forward before he could make another move. He was out. _Unconscious_.

The woman didn't have inhibitions about killing the child any longer. She ran forward, ready to drive her blade through his heart.

A senbon flew out of the woods pierced the back of her neck. The woman collapsed.

The black haired girl who threw it rushed to the boy's aid, seeing his wounds. Her palm started to glow green.

"Lady Tsunade! I found a child!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **(1)** Kushiyaki; Wikipedia says that it's meat and vegetables on a stick.

 **Writing this chapter was interesting. Point made.**

 **Do review with any criticism you may have!**


	6. Reluctant Challenge

**Hello people of Fanfiction! Chapter 6 here for you guys!**

 **This one was quite simple, it was just EXTREMELY HARD to find substance to fill in the gaps (as you will quite easily see towards the end). I want to fix it, but every time I think about it, it brings only pain to my soul.**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

Shizune attempted to flip the collapsed and bloodied boy over so that she could not only get a better look at any injuries, but also to give the boy easier access to air, as he was face down in the grass.

His arm had been pierced through the center, hitting a few vein and arteries—namely the Ulnar and Median; which were what she was working on closing now, as he may bleed out if they were left alone.

She was surprised by how fast they were closing, though. Usually it took several minutes to repair that kind of damage. His own chakra appeared to be doing it multiple times faster than her **Mystical Palm Technique**.

Once they had closed, she attempted to go further down his arm to heal his fractured Trapezius and Metacarpal; his hand.

 _Attempted._

Shizune was forced back when the same Wakizashi the boy had been holding nearly slit her throat. The loose blood on the weapon flicked on to her neck, staining a path where the blade would have carved.

Shizune's eyes widened. Was _this boy_ the one that murdered those bandits? No, that couldn't…

The boy's eyes were now open.

Left; _vermilion red_. Right; violet blue. They hadn't changed. His expression was just as impassive as before he collapsed.

Shizune was so mesmerized by the deep orbs of color, that she almost didn't notice when he uneasily stood up and lunged for her weapon first. She stepped back out of reach again and pulled a row of senbon from her leather side pouch.

She wasn't really a fan of fighting, and she _certainly_ wasn't a fan of fighting children—however this one in particular didn't seem to want to give her an option. He looked like he was in a trance of sorts. The blonde wasn't in his right mind.

Naruto stepped forward and the short sword cut through the air towards her. Shizune stepped out of reach a second time and launched her senbon, but he unpredictably swayed away from the large needles. He sprinted at her, sandals scuffing the earth, his left arm still limp, and his right clutching the Wakizashi with a white knuckled grip.

 _Swing_. Duck. _Lunge_. Sidestep.

Shizune kicked out and tripped the boy on his next run, making him stumble forward and to the ground. She launched a 5th senbon at his neck in order to temporarily paralyze him—Naruto rolled out of the way and into a crouch.

He lifted himself back off of the ground, and went for her again. Realizing that the senbon wouldn't be able to hold off the incoming blade, the black haired teen pulled a kunai from her pouch and blocked the short sword. Naruto pressed into the kunai, and just then, Shizune realized how insanely _strong_ he was.

She was struggling to keep the kunai up in defense, even with a _second_ hand holding it.

He went for a roundhouse kick to her side, to which she blocked with the back of her arm, jarring her bones. Seeing that his attack failed he spun the opposite direction and sent a whirling slash at her neck again. Torpid, Naruto wasn't able to follow through with it—she kneed him in the stomach, sending him careening back towards the trees.

Counting on the delay before he could recover again, she whipped a senbon towards him. It split the air as it soared towards him at high speeds, however it didn't land. He stuck his leg back to the ground, catching himself and digging his right heel into the grass; then used his blade to deflect it, as he began showing more coordinated movements in a hyper sensory-like state.

But he didn't let up in his attacks in the slightest.

She hailed an array of sharp senbon towards the boy, yet he seemed to ignore human standards as his blade clashed with every single one in his path; _scraping steel against steel_ as if the world was in slow motion. He stopped for a moment and swayed to the side, subconsciously correcting his footing, then ran for another slash—

—Until a fist collided with the top of his head, dropping him to the dirt.

"Lady Tsunade…"

"…This kid wasn't alone." the Slug Sennin pointed over to the tree line, where a figure dressed in red was unconscious and bound. "I'd bet he's with Jiraiya…"

* * *

 **Unknown Amount Of Time Later**

Naruto heard arguing. Not _shouting_ or anything but raised voices going back and forth. Where was he?

What happened?

He opened his eyes, and saw a black haired figure standing next to a blonde haired woman. He remembered the enemy-nin that poisoned—

 _ **Shit**_.

Naruto was instantly up—ignoring the rampant soreness in his arm—and out of his lying state running for the… door?

Door… _Not_ trees? Wasn't he in a forest?

"Naruto!" he heard the bickering stop and a familiar voice call out. The Pervy-toad-sage?

The blonde stopped himself from barging through the door. He turned his head towards the voice. The sage was standing there—untied, and awake—with a small amount of worry etched on his features.

Naruto felt himself pause. If they had been poisoned and captured by nuke-nin, why were they both untied? Why weren't they dead, or in bindings? Unless…

They had been freed? But how?

A wave of memories hit him like a cinder block. The stab in his arm… The hand… The _**sword**_ … The _**blood**_ …

He had _**killed**_ two people. _**Murdered**_ them. Without hesitation, remorse, or any second thoughts… He had _**slain**_ two others…

He hit the wooden floor breathing heavily, as every little detail came back; flooding his mind. However an older thought reemerged, and his air inhale and exhale rate slowed.

They—the nuke-nin—were enemies. It was a _**kill**_ or be _**killed**_ situation. No denying it.

The sword that was about to pierce his throat; the man's face who hadn't cared if he was _dead_ or _alive_.

If it was a matter of _live_ or _die_. Did he want to _live_? Was it _worth the death_ of another?

He hesitated with his answer. Not that it wasn't clear what it was, but he didn't want to admit it.

 _Yes. It was._

He wanted to live, not die. If that meant sending some stranger to hell… so be it.

Lightning didn't rain down from the sky and smite him. He didn't burn from the inside out. No looks of disappointment or fear from other people.

It felt like a heavy weight was lifted off his back.

"Kid. It's ok. We all have done it at one point or another. It's our life; we're shinobi." Jiraiya's words reinforced his thoughts.

Naruto stood, quietly. Something else came to mind, though…

What happened to put him in that state?

He looked up at the people watching him, and stared at them. There were two additions. A rather buxom twin-ponytailed blonde woman—who fit the exact description the pervy-hermit had given him—and beside her was a black haired female wearing a short dark purple colored kimono lined with black, over fishnet, and held with a red obi; which must be been Shizune, the Slug Sennin's apprentice…

And the same girl who he had attempted to bisect through the neck…

"I apologize for earlier… Ms. Shizune?" he bowed—the last part being more of a confirmation—to the girl, who blinked. She waved her hands dismissively in front of herself.

"It's fine. You seem to have been in some sort of _trance_ , so it's not your fault. Neither of us got hurt…" she trailed off, thinking of the two corpses she had seen, but shook her head. It was self defense; and from what Jiraiya-sama had told her, it probably wasn't even his fault.

Naruto nodded, and then turned to the other woman, who was staring at him intently. He fidgeted under her gaze, and seeing as she—in his opinion, anyway—looked to be expecting a little more of him, he straightened his hat and bowed again.

"Um… pleased to meet you, Tsunade-san…" he greeted. There was no mistaking that this woman was, in fact, the Slug Sennin. Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Why did this kid treat _her_ with respect but not _him_?

Tsunade continued to stare at him, as if looking at an old photo. "You—" Jiraiya glanced over to her, and she caught the look and shook her head; something that Naruto didn't miss, however didn't comment. "...Yeah, you too, brat."

Naruto remembered something, having to do with their purpose here in the first place.

"So… since we have found you… are we going back to Konoha now?" he questioned, to which Tsunade's expression immediately turned sour.

"No. _We—_ are not. _You two_ —are."

Naruto's fingers twitched and he swiveled his violet-blues onto Jiraiya, who sighed. This argument was to be expected, but the woman was proving to be much more hard headed than he had been ready for.

"She doesn't want the position…" he explained, and Naruto blinked and narrowed his eyes. What did he mean, 'She doesn't _want_ the position?'

This wasn't something someone just _turned down_.

"What exactly do you mean, Lady?" he stared at the woman, who was now petting a small pig—Tonton, if he remembered correctly.

"Simple. I'm _not_ going back to Konoha, and I'm _absolutely not_ becoming Hokage." she stated with an air of finality. The much younger blonde could now see why Jiraiya was so agitated. The 'finality' was not enough for him.

"Well… _why not_?" Naruto persisted, getting more of a grip on their situation; and more annoyed with each passing moment. He had originally thought that almost anyone would jump for the position. Apparently that wasn't true.

"Because it's a fool's job. My brother and boyfriend _died_ wasting their lives for that position. Almost everyone who goes into that position meets the reaper prematurely. I don't want to be one of those people." Naruto could have commented that this woman was past 'maturity', but he had other thoughts on his mind.

He did not come all the way out here in order to just _turn around_ and head back. Hell, he didn't want to come _at all_ ; this was basically just insult to injury. This woman was the only other person besides the pervy-toad-sage—which would he mention, that he _did not_ want running Konoha—and that other old man from the council—who was a creepy pragmatist—that were even considered valid for the position, according to said toad-sage.

The hatted blonde turned to Jiraiya, who seemed to almost shrink under the young boy's gaze.

"You mean to tell me, the old man wanted us— _me_ —to come out here for _this_?" Naruto questioned, his tone taking a dead toned drop. "Just for us to get _rejected_?"

A nod from the white haired man was his confirmation. He had been on this same topic with the woman since the subject came up after Naruto had been decked into unconsciousness.

Tsunade set Tonton down. "Hm. Now that that's decided, why don't you both—"

 ***SMACK***

Both Shizune and Jiraiya widened their eyes when Naruto's hand went across the Slug Sennin's right cheek. It wasn't all that powerful or anything but the point was made. The younger blonde didn't wait to watch the aftermath of his actions.

"Lady… You're pathetic." he plainly stated, without much emotion to his voice. As if it was just a simple fact. _Hook_.

Tsunade stayed silent, staring at the boy in shock.

"I honestly _wouldn't_ care about your decision—you know, except for the fact that this trip was essentially useless—but your sensei almost pleads with you to take the position from him—who has dealt with it far longer than you've even thought about it—and you just turn his request down? Because some others have _failed_? I'm sure your brother and boyfriend would be really happy with that line of thought…" Naruto played a dangerous guilt trip. _Line_.

Everything was silent for a moment. Shizune, Jiraiya, Naruto, and even Tonton watched for her return.

Tsunade tightened her fists, as if she was about to slam the younger blonde into next week.

Yet it wasn't to be. She cracked, gritting her teeth—then sighed, releasing the anger filled pressure before she could let her fury take hold. _And_ _Sinker._

"…Fine. Under one condition." the slug sennin stated. Naruto somewhat expected this. Once a gambler, always a gambler. She smirked.

"Jiraiya told me something interesting… You know that leaf exercise? Complete it by tomorrow night; _12:00_. If you don't—you leave here _unsuccessful_."

Well. If there was ever a more appropriate time to say it out loud… or mumble.

"Shit…"

* * *

 **The Next Morning**

Naruto focused on the leaf. All to the leaf. Nothing but _the_ leaf.

It split… _halfway_. Then it _crumpled_.

249th try of the morning-turned-noon down. A bit less than 12 hours left until 12:00, midnight. The blonde had been sitting under this tree since before 9:00 am, repeatedly performing the same task. He wasn't getting anywhere.

Naruto dropped the half split leaf, and picked up another. _Again_.

He lost count where he had finally decided to take a break. The boy got up and stretched out, then adjusted his hat.

" _The trick is to let your chakra slice through the leaf like_ _ **wind**_ _."_ the Pervy-toad-sage had added his words of wisdom, before telling the boy that he was going into town to ' _have a talk'_ with Takayuki.

What was he doing wrong?

Controlling the flow of chakra wasn't necessarily hard. Releasing the right amount of chakra wasn't hard. It was controlling its _exit_ that was killing him.

It's form exiting the body was obviously paramount to his success. But what was he looking for? He tried the 'Wind' thing, but it still resulted in the same split and crumpled leaf. Almost like it was the same thing he had been trying since the Pervy-toad-sage had given it to him.

Using his finger to twirl a kunai around in his hand, Naruto sighed and laid back on the branch of the tree. Seconds ticked by.

The blonde hardened his kunai with the technique Jiraiya had taught him the previous day—it had only taken him about an hour to master. He could feel it become slightly heavier, and denser; as the chakra flooded the space between atoms, connecting and strengthening, yet not interfering with material function. The ring continued to spin around his finger, bringing the blade with it. His mind blanked for a moment before getting back on topic.

' _What am I missing?'_ The question of the day, wasn't it… He pocketed the kunai and picked another leaf, then applied chakra.

Split. Crumple. He repeated. **Split**. _Crumple_.

Ok, so the split was what he was going for—obviously Wind—but why did it crumple? Naruto could only feel himself getting more confused. Did it crumple because of an overload of chakra? Like a dull knife trying to cut through paper? Possible, but unlikely.

He dropped to the ground from the branch. Maybe a walk would produce more spontaneous and helpful thoughts?

His stomach growled. Food. That would be his first stop.

* * *

 **Food Stand, 12:35 pm**

Naruto stared at his food. At first he was cautious of poison, due to the events of yesterday, but he figured that the odds of that happening twice in two days were _extremely low_. He took a bite of his lunch; little breaded pork cutlets and vegetables. They were good.

He ate his meal, thinking about his problem.

To _slice_ the leaf, his chakra would need to be sharp, like _Wind_. That was what he had so far. Was it not _sharp_ enough?

How could he fix _**that**_? He had been working on that for ages now… No improvement yet. Was he thinking on the wrong problems?

Naruto glanced at the napkin in front of him. A random thought occurred.

 _Like a dull knife through_ _ **paper**_ _?_

…If he could almost do it with a leaf, then paper would surely be much easier right? Thinner and softer than a live oak leaf.

The blonde picked up the paper square and held it flat; for fewer wrinkles. _**Focus**_. He could feel his chakra escape from his fingertips, forming the little stream of chakra that was meant to slice the napkin down the center.

Except it _didn't_. Just like the leaf, the napkin started to crumple—but instead of ending there; this time it _burst into flames_ … _That_ was different. He quickly dropped the small flaming paper ball on the ground and stomped it out. Something was interfering—however it _wasn't_ fire. That was just the side effect.

…Electricity? Was that his problem? It would make perfect sense. The crumpling and heating—which would result in said flames.

If that was the problem, then how did he _stop_ it?

Could he separate his chakra; Wind from Lightning? That is, if he had either at all?

Shinobi always had at least one affinity of the Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth and Water elemental natures, as he had read. They were mostly _genetic_ , and It was possible to have two, or even three—the latter being only in a few recorded cases throughout Konoha. Having two wasn't rare, though.

It was very much a possibility that he had both, otherwise the leaf wouldn't split or crumple/curl—it would burn, or, whatever it did when it came into contact with Water or Earth, if anything at all. Maybe that's why people use chakra paper instead…

That brought another thought along with it. How did the pervy-toad-sage know he might have Wind chakra? It was the _rarest_ type of chakra in the Land of Fire.

Naruto sighed. No, he would think on that later—although he did have a good theory, that bugged him ever since the meeting with Tsunade—right now, this was his more urgent task.

He paid the bill for the food, and started to head back to the tree.

His goal—to _separate_ **Wind** from **Lightning**.

* * *

 **Skip, 11:14 pm**

Naruto walked into the restaurant, making his way down a column of tables and chairs. Stopping at a particular table—one that he was informed by the Toad Sennin, was the meeting place for his goal of completion; as the entire group would be there for the next hour—the blonde held out the leaf. All the eyes of that particular table were on him.

He proceeded to promtly _bisect_ it, down the middle, in _twain_.

Setting the halves of the split leaf on the table in front of the Slug Sennin, he thought over the last several hours. It wasn't easy. In fact, it was painfully, sinfully, _**hard**_. To separate Wind and Lightning—one having a _weakness_ to the other, although he wasn't exactly sure if that played a factor or not—was _**awful**_. A process he would _**never**_ want to repeat.

But he had done it, _miraculously_ , within the 11 hours he had left. Even without dinner.

Tsunade, and Shizune were shocked. Jiraiya simply chuckled.

He adjusted his fur hat with one of his small, yet noticeable— _rare—_ grins. His violet-blue eyes bore into the woman's own, through the shadow the hat placed on his face.

"Ready to come back to Konoha, _Hokage-sama_?"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **One of my better fight scenes in my opinion, which is awful because this is one of my more disliked chapters in terms of writing. HUGE thanks to xxTerror33xx for most of the ideas this chapter held though. I was stumped on what to do, and even if this chapter still reflects that somewhat, it carries the plot enough to where I could just label it mediocre and move on. I may come back to fix this later, however.**

 **Please do REVIEW with any criticism you have! ~Impassive Purple**


	7. The First Sword

**Hello all! Impassive Purple back with the 7th chapter!**

 **I had a bit of a story dilemma that I needed to solve. It had a lot to do with everything, so I didn't want to continue with thinking it over thoroughly.**

 **Also, before reading this chapter, do know that I don't plan on giving Naruto Kikoku (A really long sword) at age** _ **8**_ **.**

 **Well, now that it's mostly solved; ONWARD!**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

 **Yu no Kuni (Land of Hot Water)**

"Oh great _Jashin-sama_ , please take this sacrifice in your name—" a distinctly young female figure said, and proceeded to stab the half-dead missing-nin in the heart. He convulsed, then fell back to the earth before the last of his life left his body. " _ **Amen**_."

The dark brown haired girl sighed and picked up her missing arm from the ground, reattaching it. These shinobi were such a pain to deal with… Especially this magma spewing used-to-be rock lover.

' _Damn kekkei genkai.'_ Not that _she_ could talk…

This sacrificing thing wasn't working nearly as well out in the field—or at least as often—as it had been in Konoha. Kills were so _easy_ there; mostly because nobody _expected_ to be _brutally assassinated_ in the night—or during the day—in the middle of one of the most powerful shinobi villages. It was basically pick and choose. No one suspected a young girl. Popular assumptions were that 'the shinobi would protect them; _obviously_ '.

And that was true _most of the time_. It was pretty funny when she went to torture them before killing them—they started spouting that she was a _sick child_ , and would be executed for her actions; that the village wouldn't let their death go, and the shinobi would find out her identity and hunt her to the last breath.

 _ **False**_. Not once had they even suspected her. They were always marked down as different murderers. Quite a few of her kills were credited to the 'Red Note' killer—to where even though she didn't know how or why the name came about, it was still cool. This particular persona was thought to have died or left the village, as after the third known kill—out of about 10—her rate of efficiency started rising; leaving less tracks, and less possible identification.

However back to the topic of ease. Out here, when shinobi—especially missing-nin, which weren't all that rare in Yu no Kuni due to the lax nature of their hidden village—were on the move, they were on full guard. It sucked.

Why the did Hidan want to come here, again?

Oh right. The _shrine_.

"Hey, little bitch! Good to see you finished up!" she twitched at the name, then flashed the silver haired man the finger.

"No thanks to _you_ , asshole." the melted portions of her legs were still healing, so it was a pain—both physically and mentally—to stand. A large amount of her weapons had also been marred beyond repair. Not good times.

"You need to learn how to deal with this stuff anyway, so shut it." he rebuked, then smirked, twirling his tri-blade scythe. "We're moving. Can ya' even _walk_?"

She grimaced, shooting a annoyed glare at him. "Hn."

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato**

 _ **Flashback**_

" _I hereby nominate Tsunade Senju as the Godaime Hokage!" Hiruzen announced to the crowd of those who came to the promotion ceremony. He proceeded to place the Hokage's hat on the blonde woman's head. Sarutobi's decision had already been cleared by the Fire Daimyo; not that it would have really been denied anyway. If a previous Kage was the one electing the candidate, it was_ _almost_ _a guaranteed win._

 _It had been around two days since they—Naruto, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton—arrived back to Konoha. The village seemed to be quite anxious; pretty much confirming the the Third had, in fact, announced his stepping down._

 _A new Hokage wasn't exactly something that happened often—the shortest time between them being with the election of the Fourth and then the reelection of the Third. A lot of the citizens and shinobi would be worried, as a new one may come with different regulations, views on how the village should run, etc._

 _It should be noted that the village was much more of a dictatorship than a democracy. The Hokage made all of the final decisions in large matters. If this new one decided that they just wanted to close the 'semi-peaceful'—in other words, not_ _completely_ _hostile—communications with other villages and wage war on them; they could._

 _Of course there would be extreme mutiny, along with an overthrowing of that particular Kage. But it very well could happen—that exact scenario had happened in Kirigakure, and now nearly all of Mizu no Kuni (Land of Water) was waging civil war; too busy in their own problems to worry about the rest of the world._

 _However, when the news was released that the possible Godaime was announced to be the Slug Sennin, the citizens calmed. Many people respected the woman greatly, and saw her as a fine candidate—the only other person on the list of possibilities that was in the 'running' being Danzo Shimura, who's standing in the village paled in comparison to Tsunade_ _Senju_ _; The granddaughter of the villages founder, grand-niece of the Second, and student of the Third._

 _From that moment forth, there wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that she would be the next; the Fifth._

 _After the announcement ceremony was completed, Jiraiya had bid the village goodbye once again, back on the roads and monitoring his intelligence network. Shizune had become the new Hokage's assistant. Tsunade, other than the obvious, had taken over the role of the head advisor of Konoha's main hospital; being the best known doctor and medical nin in the village. Meanwhile, Naruto had gone back to daily life._

 _ **Flashback End**_

* * *

 **Now**

Naruto stared at the short sword in the blacksmith's small collection, contemplating its use for the foreseeable future. It's handle was wrapped in dark orange cloth, and it was made of dark matte steel—no polish, to prevent light reflectivity.

After the events of Tanzaku Gai about a month ago, Naruto had been mulling over the use he would have in a sword. He had previously bought a bokken of the same length and light curve, and found it to be rather easy to use in practice. While he didn't have any sort of swordsman technique; he found his natural skill with the short-medium sized blade to be _more_ than adequate.

It wasn't like he was becoming a shinobi any time soon, either. He still had over 3½ years, and change, left until graduation.

The blonde was honestly surprised by the sheer _lack_ of experienced kenjutsu practitioners in the village of Konoha. There were about 6—nearly all of them ANBU. It was like it was being bred out of modern day leaf shinobi. Possibly to make them more—producible?

But that wasn't a problem for him right now.

Naruto was extremely surprised at how inexpensive the sword was. That's why it caught his attention. He had been coming to resupply on kunai, and his eyes had been drawn to it because of the lack of digits noting it's price.

It didn't look bad quality at all; the steel was nice, and the blade looked well crafted. Could do with a sharpening though, because to be honest, It only looked about sharp enough to cut butter—and that was _all_ it could cut. It was affordable, and looked to be _well_ worth the amount.

He took it and it's basic black sheath off the rack and over to the counter, setting it down in front of the slightly over middle aged woman. She blinked at the object that had been put in front of her. A sword that had been in stock for awhile—but not more than a year or two—that her husband made, but was never bought.

Wakizashi weren't very popular with people. Either they wanted a full length blade, or a short one. Looking up slightly to the one who had brought it up to the counter, she quirked an eyebrow.

"Child; you do know that very few people in this village would be willing to teach… er…— _you_ —sword arts, correct? Are you sure that you wouldn't like something more like a Tanto?" she said the first part slowly and gestured to another rack, lined with the more frequently used type of blade. Easier to wield, learn, and they were competitively priced.

Naruto had tried them out—held them, and performed basic motions—but they weren't quite the same. Not long enough for him to waste money on one over a standard kunai. They may have been good for some people, but he was looking for something with a bit more reach.

The blonde shook his head, and handed her the amount. It may be enough money loss to have him go hungry for an entire month—but this was what his savings were for. By this class of weapon's standards; this was thing was almost dirt cheap in comparison. Where would he find something like it again?

The woman sighed, yet rung it up anyway. Handing him back the sword, she turned her head to the door hearing the bell and saw her granddaughter walking in the shop. She looked like she was beaten into the ground; as she did every time she went out to train. Her twin hair buns were unfurling, and there were heavy sweat stains on her clothes.

Naruto gave her a flicker of a glance and she did the same to him. He continued to walk past her and out of the door; kunai restocked and newly acquired weapon in hand. The girl—Tenten—turned to her grandmother once he left.

"Who was that?" Tenten looked up at her grandmother. It was strange for a first year to be buying a sword. She was one of the only ones in the entire academy to even use any weapons. Not to say that weapons weren't used, but it was just uncommon. She had seen that particular kid multiple times; he was the only shinobi-in-training to wear such a weird hat. Never had she heard his name, though. He seemed to be a bit of a taboo subject amongst the students.

"Hm. That boy…? He's… _special_." Tenten looked confused at her grandmother's logic. Special? What was so different about him, besides the obvious?

* * *

 **Training Ground**

Naruto unsheathed his sword, and gave it a few test swings. Strangely enough, it was a bit light for his tastes, but other than that; perfect. The reach felt good enough, but it wasn't so as hinder him despite his shortage on height. The guard was simple, being a simple small rectangle, and the pommel was just a metal cap.

He flipped it around in his hand, changing grips from over and underhanded. Settling on over, the blonde got in a stance and imagined a dummy opponent in front of him.

Naruto tentatively thrusted it forward, then yanked it back and proceeded to step into a wide neck slash. He switched to underhand, next stabbing and pulling out; followed by a knee to the gut and a hammer kick into the imaginary ribs.

He sheathed the sword yet again.

The hatted blonde tried to be as fluid as possible with his movement. That's what they were taught in the academy, was key. It seemed to work well enough when it came to swords—then again, he couldn't possibly see why it wouldn't.

Naruto stepped back and hummed. Awesome.

* * *

 **The Next Day, Academy**

The ninjutsu/genjutsu period—or more appropriately, the 'chakra control' period. They didn't actually get to learn any real techniques until the second, borderline third year. Most of the academy techniques were too advanced for the majority of the kids; even if they were only E-rank. This was another point in which he excelled in his class, but less for the reason that he actually enjoyed it at all; more of it was that he was just _good at it_. Better than most of his classmates—much to the instructor's annoyance.

They were currently learning to flush their chakra systems, mostly to clear genjutsu, but with a secondary effect of building enough control to be able to do it in the first place.

A select few of his classmates—9 of the 27, which included him—had already completed the exercise, able to break the light and harmless genjutsu placed on them. Most of this group was scattered along the training yard, talking.

Naruto was lying against his usual tree, sleeping, as they still had most of the class left until the Academy day was over.

His light sleep was interrupted by a certain purple haired girl glaring into his skull. Somehow, he was able to sense it. His eyes opened and he glanced over to the owner of the dark purple hair. Ami quickly looked away, to which Naruto blinked.

Why exactly was she staring at him like that? It was even _worse_ than usual…

He knew that she was envious of him in most aspects… but did she really need to be so _blatant_ in expressing her discontent? Was she just that jealous? He sighed, and turned his head back.

The moment he looked away, she was staring again, making him twitch. Naruto turned his sight to her again—to which she looked away again—and then rotated his head back, acting as if he hadn't seen her; fooling her, and as such she went back to staring/glaring at him.

Only to meet _Naruto Uzumaki's_ dull violet-blue eyes.

She flinched, this time snapping her neck back—so fast he might have actually been _worried_ she might break it—to it's original forward watching position, and actually moving out of his line of sight.

' _Whatever.'_ Naruto shrugged, deciding that he honestly didn't care about her insecurities, and adjusted his hat. Pond-scum-sensei then announced the ending of the class and academy day.

"Ok class, it's nearly 2:00, time to grab your belongings; after that, you're dismissed!"

Naruto picked himself off from the tree, and made his way down the hall towards their class's room along with the small mass of other students. He gathered his bag and notebook from his desk, and walked out of the class and then to the main doors at the entrance. The blonde would have exited the building with the rest of the students being released, however a hand grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him into an empty classroom. He briefly heard the door being shut.

The hatted boy caught his footing and almost stabbed his purple haired classmate with the kunai he had pulled from his shorts on reflex. It was Komurasaki Ami. The blonde blinked and quickly pulled the weapon from the neck of his 'kidnapper', who looked frightened.

"What do you want?" he lightly tilted his head in questioning, raising an eyebrow.

Ami collected herself—she was a shinobi in training after all—and grit her teeth. "You _already_ know why, bastard!"

Naruto had never heard her curse before, but simply rolled with it. "Are you referring to the reason you keep glaring at me?"

The purple haired girl twitched in annoyance, and tightened her fists in anger. "Yeah— _Well kinda_ , I mean—!" she spouted but shook her head, regaining focus.

"How do you know all that _extra stuff_ like all those clan kids? How are you _so good_? What makes you so different from the rest of us; you're not from any _special family_! Actually~ aren't you an _orphan_?" she stopped in her rant, widening her eyes and freezing at that last part, cursing herself for being so insensitive. Ami was silent for a moment.

"Sorry…" She added, but Naruto shook his head. He had never _desired_ parents, so the unintended 'insult' didn't matter to him all that much.

"It's fine. I don't care. But what exactly do you mean? This?" The hatted blonde grabbed the kunai from his shorts pocket again, and spun it around his finger while hardening it; making it turn darker in color. This was something he kind of started doing as a habit. If this was what she was talking about, Naruto was surprised that she noticed it _at all_. The change was so small.

"Yeah, that!" she stared at it, seeing it up close for the first time. "I read about it; chakra hardening… How did you even learn that?!"

Well he wouldn't lie to her. "An _amphibious_ pervert taught it to me."

Ami immediately lost her anger, and blinked at him, not expecting that answer. She was silent for a minute. "Wait—what? Elaborate?"

Naruto sighed again. "A perverted toad-hermit taught it to me—we made an agreement… Now, if that's all…" he rolled his neck and adjusted his hat, then walked out the door—effectively ending the conversation and leaving a very confused Ami still contemplating the meaning of 'Amphibious Perverted Hermit'.

The blonde didn't plan on being there when she may have figured it out.

Why was he even chosen to go on that trip in the first place? There was _no way_ it was just to 'break him out of his shell'…

His theory only got clearer in his mind.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Seventh down!**


	8. Over The Edge

**Hello Fanfiction readers! Thank you for all the support, follows, and favorites!**

 **Finally got around to finishing this chapter; and I really like how it turned out. It's a bit different from a normal chapter—as in, not focused on Naruto as the POV.**

 **But one thing reigns very true about it. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT CHAPTER TO THE STORY. Like most of them… However I just wanted to put emphasis on this point. It helps put together the 'Villain' (If you would call her such; who I have now put the tag of on this story, as she is canon…) far more than any other chapter.**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato; Night Of The Uchiha Massacre**

"Oh joyous _days_ … _nights_ …" A voice sounded in the dusk time darkness, just above a whisper.

A young brown haired female figure breathed lightly, a small unnoticeable grin on her face. She was dressed in black capri shorts, standard shinobi sandals and a basic crimson colored hoodie; her face shadowed and concealed by the hood. Dully glowing red eyes shown through the shadows—unconsciously taking in every portion of her surroundings. Three tomoe in each.

The sidewalk she was walking on was completely empty. The street; devoid of life.

Step… Step… Step…

Her shinobi sandals connected with the concrete path, hardly echoing in the cold empty darkness. They left none of the liquid remnants they had collected in the past hour.

Her hands were also rather clean. Not that she really _cared_ about either.

Right now, she was just simply enjoying the cool feeling on what was her exposed skin, thinking over her future plans. Mostly, her _immediate future_ , as long term goals and whatnot weren't really her forté.

"Hm. How to give them the slip…?" she nodded to herself. The thought stopped short, though, and not very far in. She paused in her stroll, and frowned. There was a problem—something… _amiss_. Her eyes looked on forward, and could make out light, chakra surrounded, movement.

There was someone in front of her. This wasn't expected…

' _Why is anyone on_ _ **this**_ _path? Who…'_ her inner monologue trailed off. The identity of the figure, she was even more surprised at. Her eyes lit up, and her grin came back a bit wider.

It was a kid… One with a brown furred and white spotted winter hat, covering his dark blonde hair. Barely noticeable whisker marks—so very light that most normal people _wouldn't_ notice—adorned his cheeks, and his irises were a violet blue. A rare, vibrant color.

 _Very interesting indeed._

A few years ago, this encounter may have gone _very_ differently… Almost the polar opposite of how it would go now.

Maybe she would have gut him with a rust ridden kunai, bathed in his blood, and then left him to rot with maggots in an alley—despite the situation and circumstances?

Would it have been cruel; awful? Of course—that would have really been the _entire_ point. Why else?

Murder _wasn't_ out of kindness… In _most_ cases. She wouldn't have allowed herself to kill him with anything less than complete willingness to torture him until he decided that suffocating suicide was a nice and pleasant alternative— _not that she would do that exactly_ , but she wanted the option available… However, which there in afterwards, she would purge his soul from his body via a dagger _through the heart_. Along with a string of chants in hopes that her new 'immortality granting half-god' would hear her.

Wow. She must have been _Violent~_!

Fortunately for the boy, she had learned that killing him would have not solved her problems. No goals worked toward, or achieved. It would essentially be a 'useless' death… Sort of. One that she would enjoy— _mass euphoria/elation_ would also ensue in great measure—but only for the moment, until she realized that _nothing_ had actually _changed_.

Vengeance would—without a doubt—be served then, yet it wouldn't fulfill her.

Not to mention the problems that would arise with his death.

Well, fuck. That went against Jashinist doctrine. " _Cause nothing less than destruction, grief, and death."_

At this thought, she smirked playfully to herself. ' _Hmm… Screw it.'_

So… No—she mostly murdered with _**purpose**_. Why just kill just for the kill? _Wasted energy_ —in her opinion.

The boy was mere meters away now. He didn't even notice her, too busy with counting his money. She grinned yet again, this time, larger than before. The blonde proceeded to stash away the toad wallet, and glance upward. _Just in time_.

The tomoe in her eyes started to spin as they passed—or rather, avoided collision. There was a brief moment in where _red_ met _violet blue_ and locked, only for a split second, before both broke visual contact.

"Sorry, didn't see you…" the hatted blonde muttered, continuing to walk the opposite direction.

A light, wispy, and quiet giggle escaped from her lips—unheard by the boy. Actually… Maybe she did have a long term plan? Possible… But she did know one thing with certainty…

He wouldn't _die_. Not _**yet**_.

* * *

 **Hokage's Office; 8 Days After The Uchiha Massacre**

Hiruzen Sarutobi was immediately alert when the ANBU—Boar, a commander in the Black Ops ranks—who was responsible for keeping him up to date on the events of the massacre appeared in his office. Contrary to what he had told Kakashi, he had decided to finish off his run as Hokage slightly later than expected—he was going to stay until the case was closed; or at least until the suspect's identity had been discovered. So far it had been several days—over a week—since the genocide, and there had been no true breaks in the case.

Forensics had been going through every body; each taking quite a long time to check over. There were nearly 300 mutilated Uchiha to look at, then match to a file in the archive and name. The examiners and investigators were working overtime.

The only things they had were that the suspect's presumed age would be anywhere from 11 to 15, and they were more than likely female—which shocked him, and to his notice; Danzo to no end—all based on theoretical height, and shoe size from prints in blood. Naruto's memories only provided reassurance of these facts, along with the addition of a highly likely Uchiha blood relation—unless they had somehow transplanted a Sharingan into their eye sometime around the time of the massacre. Unlikely, but crazier has happened.

A possible lead had been found. "Sir. I have a report,"

"Continue." Hiruzen said with authority.

"We have finished the body count investigation and forensics—according to the roster, we're missing the bodies of two individuals; Shisui Uchiha, and Izumi Kuchibue-Uchiha."

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes… _two_ were missing? Shisui Uchiha, a well known shinobi… But who was Izumi Kuchibue-Uchiha…? He had never heard the name.

"Information on the second?" Boar nodded and handed him a file, to which Hiruzen grabbed and flipped it open.

There was a picture from the person's mandatory shinobi license photo from academy graduation.

It was a young female. In the picture she had dark brown hair—nearly black—framing her face with two bangs, a ponytail behind, with pale skin and onyx colored eyes; a small mole under her right eye. She was slim in the face and lithe in the body, like most young female shinobi.

This picture was apparently taken when she was around 11; she graduated a year early. The side info told a lot more recent info, however.

"This girl is the most likely suspect as of yet… Izumi _Uchiha_ —¾th blooded; _female_ , and _under 16_." Boar informed, pointing out the factors that made her the primary subject of suspicion. Sarutobi nodded.

"Parents perished in the Third Shinobi War, and her little sister in the Kyuubi's attack on the village. She graduated from the academy over two years ago, and was put on Team 12. Her specializations in the shinobi arts were _Bukijutsu_ , Taijutsu, and _Fuinjutsu_ ; the top of her class in the first, and nearly the second."

Hiruzen read down the other lines of info. There was no doubt that it was _her_ and not Shisui—every single piece of evidence found was _towards_ her. None against.

But why?

The thing he couldn't figure out was why she was just go on some _killing spree_ and massacre her clansmen. According to this file she was a good student, no criminal-esq record at all. Nothing to indicate insanity, as in the beginning and end of academy psychological checks, she tested perfectly normal; if only a bit emotionally unstable during the first and that could be blamed on the deaths of her parents in the third war…

That wasn't uncommon, either. A lot of children were orphaned by that war. The last known tragic event to happen to her was that her sister died in the attack of the Nine-tails. However, that was over _8 whole years ago_ , it couldn't have possibly driven her to do this _now_?

It didn't make _sense_ …

"According to the analysts, these types of occult killings have happened in a few other places as well… Never as numerous as this, though—the largest number before, was about 12; and it was committed in Yugakure by someone named 'Hidan'. It was labeled by an unknown source as a ' _Jashinist' sacrificial ritual_ …"

* * *

 **Memorial Sight, Konoha; Around 9 Years Ago, Days After The Third Shinobi War**

Words had a way of swaying people—changing them, with the right weight. They made people rethink; reevaluate.

" _ **Immortality**_ … _? No purpose to a '_ _ **limited life**_ ' _?"_ Izumi frowned, contemplating the words. The tear tracks on her cheeks were still fresh… As fresh as her baby sister's, who was choking back cries beside her.

They were young. Far too young. She herself was only just under 5, with her sister being but a year younger.

The masses of people at the memorial stood in silence, the only such disturbances being the sobs of the relatives and friends of those who lost their lives.

They all died in battle—heroically or not—defending their village, and way of life.

All casualties of the Third Shinobi War. Many on all sides. _Death, destruction, terror._

Many may think _Karma_ would dictate that a grace period was to be set upon them after all the hardships and bloodshed. That their gods would have _mercy_ and give them a semblance of peace after this great tragedy.

This was not the case.

It would strike _again_ —a catastrophe that would hit _much_ closer to home.

* * *

 **Konoha; One Year After The Third Shinobi War**

Konohagakure no Sato, one of the great five shinobi villages; was facing one of the largest disasters to ever befall upon it. Worse, and with more destruction and death in the village than any war they had ever been faced with.

The most powerful known tailed beast, the **Kyuubi no Yoko** —the chakra monster of Nine tails; said to cause tsunamis and cleave mountains with but a swing of it's tails—had appeared without warning and began to lay waste to their home, the tomoe of a sharingan ablaze in it's eyes.

"O-onee-chan!" Izumi heard the distant scream over the havoc in the rest of the village, and recognized it, but she couldn't find the source. Her sense of direction was totally screwed—having been knocked into near-unconsciousness by the sheer air whipping force of the multi story tall Nine Tailed chakra beast. The village was alight, burning. Buildings turned to rubble; streets, into a maze.

Chaos. Bodies. Blood.

People were impaled, crushed, and quartered by stray materials; wooden planks, steel rods, concrete walls, metal sheets…

"Onee-! W-where a-are—!?" Izumi heard again, and the directional disorientation began to clear. She heard her sister's voice wane and her starting to violently cough, and retch. Scrambling up, she immediately knew something was wrong. Other than the obvious.

"K-Kyoka-chan! Are you ok?! Call out again!" Izumi yelled, her right ankle was temporarily out of commission, but she struggled against the agonizing pain.

The earth shook, and she heard more destruction, roaring, and screaming. None of her sister.

"Kyoka!" she called out again, and started to stumble towards the most viable direction. Her voice didn't come from too far away, she had to be close by. "Where are you!?"

A low moan was heard, and she felt a hand grab her injured leg.

" _Aghh_!" She screeched in pain, snapping her vision down towards the source. It was a man, one with a missing arm… torn clean off. He was staring up at her in hope—that he might be able to survive if she could get him help.

"P-please…" It hardly came out louder than a whisper.

However, seemingly unaware to him… he was also stuck straight through the middle with a thin steel beam.

Izumi was paying attention to something else, however.

"O-onee—!" the retching of her sister was louder this time… she could hear it ringing in her ears alongside the sounds of explosions further off. Izumi grit her teeth, glaring fiercely down at the man. Her sharingan smouldered.

She needed to get to her sister! Couldn't _he_ _see that_!?

She attempted to shake the hand off, biting her lip in anguish and causing it to bleed. It was to no avail. The rage now alight within her, swelled up even further.

This _man_ …

'… _ **Why won't this**_ _ **damn old man**_ _**just FUCKING**_ _**LET GO**_ _ **!?**_ ' she thought, livid.

A decision was made without hesitation.

Using her undamaged leg she proceeded to repeatedly _curb stomp_ the man's arm in cold fury; driving in into the ground and off of her ankle. A break may have been heard, but she didn't stop until there was _absolutely no chance_ of the limb grabbing her again.

Izumi didn't even flinch when she slowly saw the hope and life leave the man's eyes. _Serves him right!_

He was already a worthless corpse; a _dead man_ as far as she was concerned. Her sister was _infinitely_ more important than he would _ever_ be. Just a bad toss of the dice in the game of life; was she _supposed to care_? Life screwed him over. Not her!

Izumi limped away from the rapidly dying man, and toward where she heard her sister. Reaching the place, she scanned the surroundings, and saw a girl on her back, under the remnants of their tiny apartment, and covered in dust; _choking out blood_. She dropped next to her Imouto, and tried to pull her out from under the wreckage.

 _She wouldn't even budge._

Izumi heard her younger sister hack up even more of her vital red life liquid, so she stopped trying to pull. She ran through the few options in her brain, then scooted back to the roofing, before attempting to push it up. All she got for her efforts was immense pain shooting from her leg—

 _It didn't even move._

She stared down at her sister as the sharingan started to rapidly spin. The light was slowly fading from her Imouto's eyes and she could see it. It absolutely terrified her…

"Kyoka! Kyoka! No… C'mon… Stay with me!" she shook the younger girl, of which whom didn't respond. Her heartbeat only slowed. " _ **Damnit**_ _**Kyoka!**_ _ **STAY WITH ME**_ **!** " Izumi screamed, and the tears started to flow as she continually shook her more.

Within mere moments she was completely limp. No heartbeat at all.

The screaming was for naught. Izumi steadily realized this. It dawned on her, and as such—the reality hit her with a force beyond comprehension. It stabbed her like a sword piercing her chest.

Her sister _**wasn't**_ coming back…

Forever, it this was the day she changed. The day she _**cracked**_. Just short of _**shattering**_.

* * *

 **A/N**

 _ **Whew**_ **. This chapter… wasn't really all that complicated.** _ **However**_ … **my inspiration to write it didn't come for a while. Procrastination. The latter part of this chapter was one of my favorites, though. I feel like it's one of the best impactful moments I have crafted thus far.**

 **Do you agree or disagree? Anything you think I could have done better on? Your opinions are highly appreciated!**


	9. Black Eye

**Hey people! Another chapter down!**

 **The A/N at the bottom is a lot more interesting. Just know that I was temporarily brain/idea dead for the past week.**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

 **Konoha; Academy**

"Uzumaki Naruto?" the new main sensei that had replaced Fukuro— _Pond-scum-sensei_ —for the third year and onward called, looking both hesitant and apprehensive toward the brown hatted blonde sitting in the very back corner of the classroom. It was as if he expected the 10 year old boy—who was sitting there patiently, waiting for his name on the attendance—to go feral, and then start a vicious attack on the rest of the class.

 _Like the terrible, crass beast that he was… Immoral and as evil as they come…_

Well, this may have been an exaggeration. He was decently collected; though he did seem to be more so bugged by him than the majority if the population in Konoha.

Naruto just stared at him, sensing these emotions—in turn almost making the man flinch.

The feelings couldn't have been more open and visible if the man had tried, in Naruto's opinion. 'Iruka' as he was introduced to the class, had just recently taken up the mantle of becoming a full teacher—other than being the secondary hand. He appeared nice enough. If only slightly… presumptive.

And somewhat fidgety in his presence.

This whole 'more than likely being a Biju container' thing—in it's infamy—tended to make others like that, however. As he had learned that such cases weren't extremely uncommon in the major villages, as Hashirama had _gifted_ them said multi-tailed beasts—something that _wasn't in fact, taught in their history sessions_ ; where else would they go?

He still didn't have enough evidence to _completely_ confirm this… no one who knew of the whole event that would willingly lay the details out in front of him. He had figured this out pretty quickly by just taking an outside perspective in the interaction between himself and others of the village; getting a good idea of how the rules appeared to be laid.

 _No one is allowed to talk about it._

On the other hand, given the behavior towards him in daily life—such as now—he held absolutely no doubt that he was correct.

And, you know; that very complex seal located along his sides, meeting swirl on his abdomen. When it had appeared after the events at Tanzaku, that was what gave the theory the most weight.

Tying it all together, it made too much sense to ignore.

"Present." he responded to the call.

Iruka slowly nodded, still keeping the boy in his peripheral vision for a minute while calling out the other students. A few more names passed, and as it was the first day, no one was absent. The single scarred man checked off the last student, and scanned the room. He set the clipboard back to his desk and clapped his hands together, getting the attention of the less caring children.

"…Ok then. Well, seeing as I don't know any of you, unlike your last sensei; why don't we play a game of sorts to introduce each of you to me?" Iruka questioned, to which the general response from the class was a mix between 'Ok' and 'I don't care'. He reached into the desk and took out a hacky-sack/foot-bag of sorts, holding it out.

"Let's toss this bag around—since there are 27 in this class, we're just going to be doing a general introduction; name, likes, dislikes and a hobby. How about I start?" seeing everyone was in agreement, he continued.

"As you know, my name is Umino Iruka… I like my village and Ichiraku Ramen; I dislike those who give up too easily; my hobby is going to the hot-springs on the weekends." he underhand tossed the bag into one of the middle rows. One by one, people threw the item around to their classmates, introducing themselves.

The hat wearing blonde played extra attention to some of the more interesting of them. They had never done this before, and Naruto actually only knew about as much as he had gotten from observing his fellow students over the past two years, and during the minimal interaction they had; this being more predominantly—personality, quirks, and minor facets.

For example; Nara Shikamaru. Lazy but intelligent. Slower to react to situations, he was however one of the most logical of their class, alongside Aburame Shino and—if he were to label it—himself.

Or Yamanaka Ino. She had matured quite a bit over the last 2 years, and though she was still only mediocre with physical activity, she was rather… persuasive, and extremely adept in social interaction.

Naruto refocused his attention back to the class. The numbers soon lowered into the singular digits, going down until it was just him and a few others.

"Um… I'm H-Hinata Hyuuga… I like c-cinnamon buns and I love my s-sister… I d-dislike seafood; and m-my hobby is flower p-pressing…" the bluish haired girl stuttered quietly, before quickly passing the bag to one of the last people, and sitting back down. The one she aimed for caught it; a large civilian boy named 'Yuudai', who stood and introduced himself as well.

He had short brown hair, and while he wasn't necessarily round, he was just large in general. His clothing consisted of a pair of dark green shorts and a basic crimson colored t-shirt—as despite being close to winter, it wasn't all that cold yet.

It wasn't anything interesting; it really might have been the _opposite_ —

He liked a few foods, and announced both rather loudly and vehemently that he liked a girl by the name of 'Koko' who used to be in his class—who also happened to be the object of affection for almost every other male in the _now-fourth-year_ group—then finally, his hobbies consisted of going to the quarter-ryo arcades located in Konoha.

It was assumed by Naruto—that being as his father was rich as hell, a part of the 'trade council'; he probably didn't give a damn about blowing enough money on the games to pay the blonde's food bill for an entire month in _one sitting_.

—But the reason Naruto paid the older boy any mind was that he happened to be a very big pain in his side. Joining at the very end of last year—having been put through paid remedial lessons after failing his second year book-test once before—he was older than most of them by more than a year. This meant one thing in the dark haired boy's mind.

Automatic 'better than thou' status. He was older, bigger, and ' _smarter_ ' than the rest of them; so _obviously_ , he was king of the crowd. _In reality_ —the majority's opinion—he was very much spoiled and cocky.

Apparently, it had been decided by him—in the less than a week that he had known the blonde—that _Uzumaki Naruto_ was prime bullying material.

Iruka nodded to himself, looking around. "Ok. Is there anyone who hasn't gone?"

The hatted blonde sat quietly, and would have been perfectly content with remaining forgotten by the class and teacher; not having the rest of the class focused on him… however…

 _ **Thump.**_

Suddenly, a multicolored foot-bag nailed him in the side of his head—with such force that it actually made his head knock slightly to the side—before it stopped and fell to the wooden bench seat with an audible thud.

The class went silent, hearing and seeing this.

Naruto's eyes steadily drifted towards the previous holder of the bag, narrowed. Said person didn't look affected by the look, an antagonistic smirk on his visage. A taunt.

 _A silent challenge._

Iruka whispered an internal curse, and tensed—mostly expecting a fight to break out between the two. Everybody's attention was to him now. Naruto broke the look and observed the room.

He slowly reached down and picked the bag up, then stood.

After a gravid moment of quiet, he spoke.

"…My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I have a few likes; including hunting, reading, and anatomy. I dislike— _a few things in particular_ right now." the blonde said, lightly glaring at the boy that threw the bag of little beads. "My hobby is practicing my sword skills."

The bag was quickly and finally returned back to Iruka, at the very front of the room, who had calmed himself at the surprising _lack_ of an outburst of any kind by the blonde. Nothing like he had expected at all…

From the way Mizuki had described the boy—he surmised that the blonde would be akin to wolf—or more correctly; _fox_ —in human skin. This didn't quite fit.

Naruto sat back down, next to the others on his three person bench who were giving looks between the two boys. The blonde cast a narrowed glance over to the subject of his most recent annoyance.

He didn't expect Iruka to reprimand Yuudai—not that he really did—however he was slightly surprised when the new teacher shot a look towards the older boy. It sent a message that looked to be along the lines of 'don't mess with your classmates'. There was a hidden '…even him.' somewhere in there he could tell—he was sure nobody else could really see it—but it was good enough for the blonde.

Maybe the scarred man wouldn't be as terrible a teacher as Mizuki. He was _all for_ that.

Iruka spoke again, in an effort to shatter the stiff atmosphere. "…Now that that's out of the way… I guess that I should assign your new reading materials…" most of the class simultaneously groaned, therefore achieving his goal.

"Everyone has their books from last year, correct?" confirmations swept through the room, and all of the students reached down for their bags to collect their books.

Over the course of the next few minutes, they each went up to the desk and exchanged their old books—rather small-medium sized textbooks containing all of the information for the second year teachings—with 'new' ones for the third year. Naruto sat down in the corner again, after obtaining his. He saw someone raised their hand— _Bashou Jun_ , was his name—to which caught the newly fully appointed Iruka-sensei's attention.

"Yes… Jun-san?" he called/asked, handing another book to yet another student.

"Where is Mizuki-sensei?" the boy questioned with a confused tone, to which Naruto simply stared at the boy, while the rest of the class seemed to wonder the same thing.

 _Speak of the devil, and he shall appear;_ as it were in certain cases. Tempting fate.

' _He jinxed it.'_ was the blonde's immediate thought when the door to their classroom slid open, revealing the malicious silver haired man. Naruto sighed, this day was becoming more bothersome by the minute.

To add to that, history was undoubtedly their first subject…

* * *

 _The students of the newly reformed 'Class 3' stepped into the training yard. Iruka/Dolphin-sensei turned to the students who were lining up against the fence. He waited for everyone for everyone to take a place, Mizuki/teme following behind them. Once everyone found a spot, he spoke._

" _So, did everyone keep up their physical practice over the break?" Iruka asked, only to be left in expected disappointment when well over half of the young shinobi-in-training either flat out denied it, or tried to trail the heat from their backs with excuses and lies. It might have worked with Fukuro/Pond-scum in previous years, but Iruka appeared to have been made of stronger stuff than that._

 _Stretches, push-ups, sit-ups, running, and more activities such as these were many within the span of the next fifteen plus minutes. Untargeted kicks, punches, and other offensive/defensive movements were also performed by the sets._

 _They were next onto sparring._

* * *

Naruto leaned against the fence, his hat brim shadowing his vibrant eyes in the mid-late fall/autumn sun. He blinked at what was likely being proposed by his lesser liked—going into the negatives on the imaginary scale— _sensei_.

It was a complicity. They were in cahoots—Yuudai-toroi **(1)** and Mizuki-teme. There really couldn't have been another explanation, other than sheer coincidence.

…Or that Mizuki was watching the events going on in the classroom in secret, and decided to make a _late_ entrance…

Then again, If _great_ minds thought alike, then the opposite would likely be true also. Could be, and probably _was_ , both.

As such this situation came to be…

"Oh c'mon Iruka; it's fine." he overheard Mizuki-teme talking to his fellow teacher. Iruka still seemed hesitant to allow it, given the events of previous. Eventually, however, he appeared to cave from his friend's assurances.

The blonde haired boy sighed—which was the same gesture Iruka made in the next moment, before speaking.

"Next; _Kurumi Yuudai_ against _Uzumaki Naruto._ " he announced to the group, writing down the two names on his clipboard. It was 27 students the class. An odd number. Someone would have to go again, or not at all, but he would cross that bridge when he got there

This year, as compared to last; they didn't use the 'stay in the ring' method. Now, it was just 'incapacitate or disable your opponent'—whether that be via a surrender, hold, or any other method that didn't involve injuring said opponent very badly; such as knocking them _unconscious_.

That was heavily frowned upon, and would result in a temporary suspension.

Naruto could practically feel the grin on the older boy's face—and even a small smirk on Mizuki-teme's face as this was announced. His next words made both expressions drop immediately.

"I decline, sensei." Iruka quirked an eyebrow. Decline? He ran it over for a moment then slowly nodded, looking slightly suspicious towards the boy. "…Ok then." at least his small problem from earlier had been inadvertently solved. Meanwhile Mizuki silently glared.

' _Wimpy fucking demon brat.'_

Yuudai, however, appeared to be the most affected by the younger blonde's blatant denial of the challenge. " _What!?_ He's not allowed to do that; _right_?"

He looked to his teachers, as if expecting Iruka to suddenly take back his decision, or Mizuki to agree with him—of which he did, yet didn't voice due to the presence of several of the students who he may be questioned by if they had ever seen someone do this or denied a match themselves. It was probably common knowledge, and he wouldn't just be able to pull the 'I'm a teacher, so I make the rules' card in front of _Iruka_. _Damn 'goodie-two-shoes' buzz killer…_

"Yes, Kurumi-san, he is…" the darker haired sensei stated, crossing out the matchup he had made on his clipboard, and checking Naruto's name off on the side.

Technically, it _was_ acceptable to decline a spar. If they didn't want to, they didn't _have_ to. It didn't subtract from their grade enough that it would fail them by any means. Usually it was only done when a student had an injury, or was afraid of getting hurt—of which the latter was usually bred out by the second quarter of their first year in the academy.

Before interacting with the kid, Iruka may have actually been dissapointed himself; but now… he really didn't care. Despite his ongoing moderate dislike for the boy—he still didn't _hate_ him.

Naruto went to sit next to the other students against the wall and fence, ignoring the look of anger/malice from Yuudai and Mizuki.

"Next up, how about; _Jun_ instead, against _Yuudai_?"

* * *

 **2:18 PM; Konoha Streets**

Naruto sighed. The walk home was the same as any other day. _Uneventful_ , and rather long. He passed a food shop, smelling the wafting scent of—according to the sign ' _Ichiraku Ramen'_ —floating through the air, yet walked by without sparing it another glance. He had only been there twice, at the end of the last two years. Light celebration.

He couldn't afford—or more appropriately, didn't see the _reason_ —to indulge himself like that everyday.

Naruto continued on for a few more minutes, trudging the rest of the way home. The streets slowly started to get sparse of people, as he was out of the more commercial section of the village.

He spotted something and looked up.

The blonde saw a certain annoyance standing a few meters in front of him. He glanced at the boy, questioningly, an eyebrow raised. Did he seriously _follow him here_?

At first, he was going to ignore him, attempting to walk past without conflict. He was suddenly stopped and pushed back; something that he doubted wouldn't happen.

 _'Wouldn't hurt to try?'_

It was quite for a moment. Apparently, from the lack of words—for some reason—he was to be the first to speak.

"What exactly do you want, Yuudai-toroi?" he asked flatly, his violet-blue eyes watching the boy from under the think brim of his hat.

The larger male twitched and ground his teeth at the name, his ugly face contorting in rage. "What did you just call me, asshole!?"

Naruto wouldn't have said anymore. He didn't have to—his question had already been laid out, and he was sure the older boy had heard and understood it. But he decided to reiterate.

"What exactly do you want? If you're trying to stalk me, you're not doing a very good job." the blonde repeated, adding to his last words. Was he stalking him? No. Probably not. Naruto had a pretty good idea what he was here for, though.

He was suddenly yanked up by the shirt collar to the older boy's level. "Little brat! You know exactly what I'm talking about! You fucking bailed on our fight—I was gonna wipe the floor with your stupid fucking face!" he snarled in Naruto's face, to which the younger blonde slightly glared in irritation.

If there was an overuse for that particular word; otherwise known as the 'F' word—that was an example. It was looking like there wasn't going to be much 'walking away unscathed' from this. He wasn't really much for petty 'revenge' or anything of the sort, but he felt as if it would likely be served within the next few minutes.

"I would appreciate if you set me down, _please_." he said, eyes narrowed as he grabbed the larger boy's arm, which still gripped his shirt.

"Hell no!" Yuudai growled. "I'm going to beat your ass, you little prick!" His reply was completely expected. Why else would he come here, but to seek a fight?

Yuudai went for a knee into Naruto's stomach, to which the blonde forced the hand from his shirt—which ripped the top open—therefore putting him out of range, and threw his grey side bag off of his shoulders, while stepping back.

Immediately Yuudai ran forward, throwing a fist, which in turn caused Naruto to sidestep and double back away again. The larger boy kept on with the _offensive_ , leaving the blonde only able to dodge the attacks on the _defensive_ , which mostly consisted of straight forward heavily telegraphed punches. Yet he still couldn't switch the roles of the fight, without any extremely close calls.

 _ **Punch. Punch. Punch.**_

However, one thing did catch his attention. Yuudai was slowing down. He didn't enough stamina to keep up with his constant attempts. Naruto weaved around a slightly slower than usual punch, stepping in and returning with his own, which landed in the stomach of his opponent.

It lacked any real power, due to the low amount of build up from the small distance; as such the boy simply grunted, his core brace mitigating almost all of the force…

Naruto cringed as he was knocked sideways, hit in the right eye with a hard knuckle swipe. He cursed as he stumbled, and barely caught himself before he hit the wall of a nearby building. Standing his ground, he steadied himself while palming the eye that was already turning black and blue. Naruto then turned, ready to continue the fight, and dashed towards his opponent.

It was time for _him_ to go on the offensive. The older boy was slower, but hit hard. He was also heavy on defense. He also had low stamina for repeated attacks, yet he could cover enough area around himself with his size in order that it almost didn't matter; if you got too close you might just get swatted.

Long story short; for all intents and purposes, a bear. _Great._

He threw a concealed hand of dirt/dust in the boy's own eyes—to which Yuudai closed just in time to avoid temporary blindness—then spun and rammed his heel into the ground, going for a hammer kick to the side. It was blocked just in time—but Naruto had expected this; already dropping to the ground in an effort to knock the older boy's legs out front under him.

His foot stomped brutally into the knee joint, taking Yuudai off balance with a cry of pain. Naruto capitalized the moment of weakness. He started to rotate into a top-like spin kick. The brown haired boy took the brunt of the attack in the shoulder, not as effective as Naruto had planned, however it was still enough to semi-topple the boy 'giant'. Yuudai tumbled into a roll, surprising the blonde at the agility as he hit the street. He looked to be about to stand up.

However he wasn't able to pick himself up fast enough, though, as Naruto was already upon him—ready to drive a unhindered axe kick into the boy's stomach. Yuudai caught it, and pulled the boy off balance. Naruto felt himself being grabbed and picked up by the captured leg and arm.

He was about to be _counter-thrown_. Probably into the closest building. ' _Shit.'_

Thinking quickly, he wrapped his remaining leg under the boy's arm, held tight, and drove a solid punch into his opponent's stomach. Yuudai didn't expect the amount of force, having judged Naruto's arm strength by the previous faulty punch. He nearly keeled—also letting go of the gripped arm—because he hadn't braced for it. The younger blonde grabbed, and subsequently yanked the leg of the older boy's and twisted his hips, putting torque into making the boy fall.

Yuudai recovered, and turned to falling movement into a downward body slam. Naruto kept turning hitting the hard ground on his shoulder—of which hurt. Alot. The weight of the boy added to this even further.

He was unwilling to go down because of that, though. The blonde let himself collapse, then sprung both free legs into a double kick; using the ground as an opposite force to push off against. The kick managed to force Yuudai off of him, jarring the older boy's head and shoulder—followed by the rest of his body—to the side, therefore avoiding the blonde being crushed.

Naruto rolled back and got up into a stance, picking up something along the way. Yuudai gathered himself and got back up as well, spitting blood.

"Fucking little prick!" he ground out as he shook his head of the dazed feeling, before suddenly being cracked in the head by something—a soaring projectile much _heavier_ and more _ridged_ than a small bag of beads—

—A piece of _broken_ _concrete_.

He dropped to the ground, totally unconscious; a nasty, bloody, gash on the side of his head.

Naruto utterly ignored him, walking past—someone would find him soon enough. He more than likely _wouldn't_ bleed out due to a wound like that. The blonde let out a heavy breath, going over to his bag. Touching his eye, he hissed in pain, and quickly retracted his hand.

' _Fuck.'_ That would hurt _way_ more in the morning, wouldn't it?

* * *

 **A/N**

 **(1)** From what I've read, ' _Toroi_ ' literally means ' _Slow Minded Person_ ' (as an insult towards a non-mentally disabled person). Given that ' _Teme_ ' translates to ' _Jerk_ ', and it seems that it could be used as just a standard adjective or a suffix, I figured the reverse may be true for other such adjectives—hence ' _Yuudai-toroi';_ as an insult towards him being held back due to lack of smarts. I'm no expert in Japanese, so please do correct me if you find this offending or ungrammatically correct.

 **Whoo. CHAPTER 9 IS FINALLY FINISHED. No real excuses other than that my brain just didn't want to work.**

 **This is about how it functioned for the past week;**

 **Me "Maybe this would be cool?"**

 **It 'No.'**

 **Me "** _ **Or**_ **maybe this?"**

 **It '…No.'**

 **Me "Well. How about** _ **this**_ **?"**

 **It 'You suck at writing.'**

 **Me "Really…? I didn't know you thought of me that way…"**

 **It '…Jk. But seriously, trash that idea. You're digging plot holes. Stop—it hurts.'**

 **Me "Fine."**

 **(10 Minutes Later)**

 **Me "OH MY GOD. BEST IDEA EVER. How about** _ **THIS**_ **!"**

 **It "** _ **Hell**_ **no."**

 **Me "Are you** _ **ever**_ **happy?!"**

 **It "Rarely."**


	10. Sarutobi Konohamaru

**Hello people! Impassive Purple back with Chapter 10! I'm sorry it took nearly/over two weeks, but I've been having a lot going on in recent times. Also... I find the lack of descriptive reviews discouraging... Leave more, people!**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

 _Naruto dropped down and sat on his bed as soon as he arrived to his apartment. The sun broke heavily through the white curtains of his apartment and on to the dark wooden floor; it was still mid-afternoon. He tried to block out the painful throbbing in his right eye, and the quickly fading sore feeling in his shoulder from events previous._

 _Well. He won… Not that he necessarily believed he'd lose._

 _The blonde took his hat and book-bag off and then set them on his bedside table, then floor respectively, sighing. Hesitantly, Naruto brought his fingers to the heavily bruised optical organ. The blonde gently brushed them along the darkening skin along the outside. He let out a displeased groan._

 _It wasn't the first one he had gotten; but these were more aggravating than any other injury. Black eye's were a specific type of pain—both physically; and being that they were a thorn in his side, as they never healed as quickly as other injuries._

 _They liked to linger._

 _Taking inventory of any damaged items, the blonde looked down to his torso, and saw the rip down the center of dark blue material; his shirt. Luckily, it appeared as if his vest didn't take any damage—those were a bit more expensive to replace if he would happen to want or need another one._

 _He needed some new shirts anyway for the upcoming cold, though; he was growing out of his older ones pretty fast. More money._

 _Naruto stared out of the window. One more year, and—hopefully—money wouldn't be such an ever present and annoying problem. Apparently D-rank missions paid terribly; so he needed to improve faster, so that he could take the next rank up quickly after he graduated. C-ranks and forward were the ones he may be able to live off of…_

 _The blonde reached into his shorts pocket and grabbed his toad wallet. Opening the tabs, Naruto looked inside. One, two, three, four… His uninjured eye twitched upon seeing the amount._

' _What…? How…? But…'_

 _In one movement, the wallet was quickly snapped closed, tossed to his pillow; and the blonde boy dropped on his back, hitting the plain white sheets on the horizontal. He was silent._

 _Every time he counted his money, it was so damn depressing. Thinking about death, morality, and mortality was something everyone did, and was bleak; no denying…_

 _However, thinking about money just sucked. Without it you almost couldn't do anything._

 _He sort of regretted buying that sword two—well actually it more along the lines of one and a half, but whatever—years ago; the thing practically broke the budget. Good price at the time, it was—cheap in the grand scheme of his finances, it was not. It took a decent chunk out of his savings, that he had only just recovered the full amount of in recent months._

 _But he wouldn't complain. The sword was useful for training, he guessed—there just wasn't much of a reason for him to actually have a full metal sword yet. From today, he still had two whole years left until he graduated. That brought along his next line of thought._

 _Who would his teammates be?_

 _An interesting question, but a much more important one would be;_

 _Who would his sensei be?_

 _Obviously, it would be a jonin. They were called 'Jonin-sensei' for a reason. They would be the one mostly teaching him past the academy. Sure while he could easily teach himself in the academy, as everything there was mostly common knowledge he could find in a library; everything after that—primarily in the genin stage—would be in the hands of his assigned sensei and his own experimental ideas. It was, for the most part, 'uncharted territory' for him._

 _And this worried him more because of one thing. He didn't know all that many jonin. Even less that he knew wouldn't be so prejudiced towards him, like many of the villagers tended to be._

 _On second thought; the shinobi portion of the village seemed to dislike the Uchiha—may their souls rest in peace, if that was possible after a sacrificial offering—a ton more._

 _He only knew the few that had ever visited his class; for example Sarutobi Asuma, or Yuhi Kurenai—and the famous 'Might Gai', of course. He was pretty common word. With a personality and style like that, it was hard not to be._

 _They were ok enough. However he doubted he would get any of those…_

 _Yet, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility…_

 _He was the village's Biju container—of which he wasn't entirely sure if he was the only one in Konoha, as the book he had learned of such things from had just read 'divided among the major villages', but he had a feeling that he was—meaning he was actually likely to be quite important to every power holding person in the Elemental Nations._

 _Nearly unlimited sources of chakra would be very valuable; especially in war time such as during the Third Shinobi War, where the use of Biju had been a documented occurrence. They would likely need to assign someone with a high experience level, and the skills capable of preventing his capture by other villages, if it came to it—if they learned of him, that is._

 _Naruto figured that's why everything about the matter was kept under threat of execution. Not the slightest bit overkill if it prevented a potential war._

 _He would be willing to bet any group, village, or otherwise would willingly pay an arm and a leg in order to steal away a metaphorical 'power' from Konoha; even Suna, their allies._

 _Another reason he would have to become stronger, faster. Multiple times better than he was._

 _He wouldn't let himself be used as a weapon without reason; whether that be for Konoha, Suna, Iwa or otherwise. This was of course with the knowledge that he would basically become a sort of weapon anyway—being in the villages military; a shinobi in training…_

 _The blonde would disregard that for now—being a shinobi was sure to be a lot more interesting than working as a carpenter. Or running a fruit stand. Or a bunch of other mundane things._

 _On that note; he could have tried to take the easy way out, but it wasn't as if they would just allow him to become a normal civilian. The now two years 'retired'—and probably enjoying it very much—old man had at the time practically forced—read 'bashed into his skull whenever possible'—upon him the idea of enrollment into the shinobi program in the first place; and he had a feeling that he wasn't acting alone._

 _The entirety of the Konoha Council made most of these kinds of decisions. They certainly had some sway in the final decree._

 _The blonde did question the fact that they stayed on a middle ground though. No other village was supposed to know anything about it, but even just in case… They had to have enough morals or reason to not just lock him up entirely—for safety or training purposes, right?_

 _He still had a lot of freedom._

" _Naruto, the Will of Fire burns strong with you… Becoming a shinobi to defend your village is in your very blood!" that stuck with him for a while—and it very well may have been true; the Third had always said that both of his parents were shinobi. Upon reevaluation, this statement brought him to a sort of understanding._

— _Though the circumstances were more 'favorable' for him; Naruto still really disliked power and politics._

 _Letting out a breath, he reached over and reset his wallet to his bedside table, before laying his head to the pillow. Tired violet-blue eyes slowly closed. Even though it was mid-day, maybe he would take a short nap—_

 _ **~Knock-Knock~**_

 _Or not._

 _Naruto stared towards his apartment door, questioningly. He didn't get many visitors, so who was it? A door to door salesman? Hm… If he waited long enough, would they go away; thinking he wasn't home—?_

" _Naruto, my boy; are you home?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice sounded through the wood. This destroyed any chance of 'tricking' the visitor. Naruto quirked a brow. What did he want? The man hadn't visited him as since his enrollment into the academy, when he had just turned 8._

 _However, the blonde couldn't exactly deny him. The old Sarutobi was the Third Hokage—heck, the old man probably knew he was home, but was just asking aloud to be polite._

" _Give me a minute!" he called back, and rolled out of his bed; putting his hat back on his head. There was really no use in trying to hide the black eye—what would he do, put an eye patch on?—so he steadily made his way to the door and turned the handle to open it. Naruto saw the old man's face shift from a more weary visage into a pleasant smile at his presence._

" _Ah, Naruto. I'm sorry about this sort of visit out of the blue, I know that it has been a few years since I visited…" Hiruzen drifted off and paused, but closed his eyes and let the emotion—sadness?—that had previously been there float off, reverting back to his peaceful persona. He took a breath before continuing._

" _Anyway, I felt now would be a good time to catch up…" he paused again, but this time in more confusion. Wait for it… "Naruto? What happened to your eye?"_

"… _Taijutsu practice at the academy." the blonde stated flatly, having already thought up an answer; to which the man raised a brow, then then nodded in acceptance. It wasn't like small injuries were uncommon…_

 _Naruto closed the door behind the man when he stepped into the apartment. The boy sat himself at his old couch, while the elder took the wooden chair he had sitting near his tiny kitchen._

" _I see… Well on that topic; how was the first day of your third year? Have you been making any friends lately…?" the latter part was drawn out some—slight, yet noticeable—as if hesitant to ask, but hopeful of a 'correct' answer._

 _Naruto shrugged. "It was fine—the new sensei is ok, and our secondary classes don't start until next week…" he had purposely left the second question unanswered, as his response was always the same; of which the word the old man said in return were also the same. However, the Sandaime must have wanted to hear it again, as he stared expectantly at the blonde._

 _The boy sighed, casting a bored gaze to the open window, which made the old man frown. "And… no."_

 _Naruto himself wasn't particularly unhappy with this fact; not that friends wouldn't be welcomed. His thought on the subject were that, realistically, friends were only 'useful'—no matter how bad that sounded—in help, favors, and company; things he could live without. He was practically raised by society and himself, so he was conditioned as such. Yet it seemed the Third had concerns about this line of thinking._

 _The blonde heard the sigh before it even passed through the Sandaime's mouth._

" _Naruto, you know that it's not healthy to be too over independent or secluded, especially at your age…" he stated, letting it hang in a short silence before continuing. "I know that you don't do it on purpose—it might just be your nature; and that's fine—but a little more effort would go a long way… Friends are a valuable thing to have."_

 _That might have been partially true. He didn't exactly seek companionship; however the old man was avoiding the truth of the matter in saying that; why he couldn't really make friends. He had tried before when he was much younger, but had quickly figured out that 'making friends' wasn't for him. Parents would steer away their children on first glance; and while a select few were kind enough to do it passively—some were not._

 _Naruto guessed that the blame for his—younger, as he was still young—childhood disappointment couldn't really be placed all on the Sandaime though._

 _That conversation would be quite a complicated one to have—at least, it would be if Naruto hadn't already figured it out. Timing was everything, and the delay had been far too long for it to go over smoothly—again, in a hypothetical situation where he didn't know—this being several years after he had just stopped questioning it because the Third had claimed to not know why._

 _Maybe he was just becoming increasingly jaded to world—something he had assumed was happening as of late; a subconscious change on his part—but at this point, he really didn't care for the reasoning behind the Third not telling him. It had the chance of coming back to bite the man in the rear later, however. One way or another._

 _This is not to say he disliked the Sandaime though; the man was the closest to a guardian Naruto had ever had. Couldn't ask for much more from a basically unrelated stranger, right?_

 _Well, he could; but he wasn't that type of person._

" _Just give it a try, at least…" Hiruzen said, giving an encouraging look to the blonde._

" _Yes, Sandaime-sama." Naruto mumbled back. This was more of a false agreement, though. The blonde fully expected this same conversation to be happening again._

 _After all; why did he need to make friends? It wouldn't be a catastrophe if he didn't._

* * *

 **The Next Day; Shinobi Academy**

 **2:16 PM**

Naruto, along with many other aspiring shinobi of their village, walked out of the main hall and into the field in front of the Academy portion of the main administrative building. As expected, Yuudai was absent in class. This occurrence had been thought deeper on by their sensei when the young blonde had walked into class sporting a black eye. No questions were asked by Iruka however, or the other students who tended to ignore him for the most part, all of them only giving him off glances—Mizuki-teme not being there also, a rather common absence—and as such Naruto was able to get through the Academy day with little trouble.

The only _problem_ he may have had was with Ami—who still considered him something of a rival—as she seemed more interested then the rest of the class in any _possible_ events that had taken place, but he had managed to avoid her, barring the chances of her questioning him.

All together, pleasant enough.

Unfortunately it seemed as if the rest of the day wouldn't follow in its footsteps.

Naruto walked through the gates twirling a kunai around his finger, feeling the weight increase ever so slightly, then decrease as the extra strengthened the bonds between atoms released. Surprisingly enough, they had started learning a basic genjutsu; Henge. It was simple enough, and he had a feeling that he would be able to get it soon.

But instead of practicing for _that_ , he wanted to focus on another—more _complex_ —technique at the moment. One he been passively working on for the past couple of weeks.

The blonde could feel the kunai getting warmer, as a light current of electricity started flow through it. He increased the flow, and the blade started to hum. It was impossible to hear, but he could feel it on his finger. Naruto slowed down the twirling, and grabbed it by the handle, simply letting the charge build, and the humming increase.

He held out his left hand in front of the tip, just far enough away that the stray bolts of charge wouldn't touch it. The goal of this exercise was to keep the electricity contained as near to the metal as possible. He didn't want it going too wild.

This was important because if it did become that way, it would end up jumping to things he didn't want it to; hence the reason he was using his hand to test.

Over time, his rate of oxygen intake started to increase as more of his chakra started to pour into the blade. Seeing as it would soon reach the 'danger' zone, Naruto quickly—but carefully —tried to stem the flow to a more manageable amount…

It was too late. There was an overflow.

"Damnit…" the blonde hissed when he felt a painful shock through the hand he was holding near the blade. He let it go too far.

Naruto stopped charging the kunai, and let the chakra dissipate, while he shook his hand of the rattling effect the electricity had initiated. He was making _some_ progress at least, better than the last times he had tried it.

When the hat wearing blonde had started to attempt doing this—having actually seen a shinobi perform it with fire instead; it was assumed that lightning would also be able to do it—it was mostly considered a giant _fail_. The same method had been used, and multiple electricity burns had marred his 'testing hand'… This was something he viewed as incentive to do better; he still continued to work on it, as what kind of technique was perfected on the first try?

Effectively, _none_.

Eventually, he wanted to get his control to the point where he could even hold it near something like water without it going unstable—however that was going to be too advanced for him right now. Basics first.

Turning right to the four way in the central road of the village, Naruto noticed that the Godaime—Tsunade—and a few jonin/ANBU were making their way for the northern gates…

He had heard rumors about the Hokage leaving to go meet with the other four Kage… Maybe to discuss the next Chunin exams? Made sense, they probably needed a few—if not several—months buffer in order to make sure dates, places, and other details could be ironed out.

Unfortunately there wasn't all that high of a chance that the exams would be happening here in the village, as the cycle hadn't gotten back to them on the rotation yet.

…Oh well.

The blonde continued to practice his chakra exercise/technique for the next few minutes as he made his way home, ignoring the sideways apprehensive glares and glances he always got from most of the population. Once he got closer to arriving at his destination, he stored the kunai away again. He was about to walk under the overhang that led to the stairwell where his apartment was located, _except_ —

"Hey… er… fur-hat-guy!" Naruto heard quick footsteps along with a young child's shout from behind him. The blonde blinked and turned his head to face towards the source.

' _Who…?'_ the call-out was directed towards him; this he was absolutely sure of.

Running down the street towards his current location was a small boy who couldn't have been older than 6; dressed in a yellow t-shirt and dark green patch kneed shorts, wearing a sort of light grey skull cap which let a small tuft of hair out of the back, along with a blue scarf around his neck.

The younger boy stopped, sort of hiding behind Naruto and using him like a human shield. Said fur hatted blonde raised a brow, looking over his shoulder to the brown haired child. A confused mutter escaped him. "…What do you—?"

He was in the process of spinning around to question the boy when suddenly a female ANBU in a cat-like mask appeared close by, and the blonde saw the younger boy mouth out the words; _You! Help me!_ to which Naruto gave the boy a mix between a deadpan and incredulous stare… with eye that could express such emotion, anyway.

Firstly, what did this kid do to have an ANBU chasing after him? And why would somebody ask—? You know what; never mind…

"Konohamaru-kun, I was ordered to _watch you_ … Must you keep running away every day?" the cat masked ANBU asked, sighing as walking towards them. The blonde looked back and forth between the two.

' _What?'_

Naruto felt the boy pick up and clap his hands together around the blonde's own lightly singed left palm in a begging gesture still facing towards him—unintentionally making the older boy let out a breath at the annoying jolt of pain from the electrical burns he had gathered along it.

The brown haired child's eyes comically pled with him. _Please!_

"What do you expect _me_ to do? I don't even _know_ you." Naruto said yanking his hand away and then adjusting his hat, giving the child an 'are you serious' look.

'Konohamaru' for his part, looked to give him the same look back. Something along the lines of; _How do you not know me?_ Naruto shot him another flat stare.

"…Oh. Hello, Uzumaki-san, how are you today?" the purple haired ANBU recognized the blonde, who looked to her and hesitantly held up his free hand in a small silent return greeting as a part of common manners. If she noticed his bruised eye, she didn't seem to show it.

Naruto noticed something about _her_ though. She looked very _vaguely_ familiar…

Judging by her appearance… this may have been the woman who had watched/followed him on the way to and from primary school. Naruto had only actually seen her very few times, but he did recall her appearance from when he did; specifically her hair and mask, however it was all in passing.

Secondly, of the things on his mind; _who was this kid to have a private ANBU escort?_

"I apologize for the disturbance, we'll be going now…" there was a pause. "Konohamaru?" she gestured, 'come on'.

Naruto turned and looked back down to the brown haired boy now standing next to him. The name sounded slightly familiar, ' _Konohamaru'_ , but it wasn't bringing anything to mind. He could see the the surprise on the younger boy's face when the ANBU greeted the blonde by name, but that was swiftly turned into disagreement.

"No! How many times do I have to tell Jiji? I refuse to go out in public with you following me around… It's creepy! None of the other kids are followed around by you weird people!" Konohamaru ranted, stomping his sandal covered foot onto the street. He then turned toward Naruto, and pointed dramatically. "Even you agree, right blonde guy?"

Meanwhile, Naruto was amused—and at the same time, still quite confused. Who exactly was this kid? Who _was_ his _grandfather_ —?

It clicked, and Naruto blinked yet again. _Sarutobi Konohamaru_.

Well, for the most part Naruto could _understand_ his pain. The public eye didn't really matter all that much to him personally, however that didn't mean he couldn't sympathize with the abnormality. It didn't help the child's case that the ANBU were almost _never seen_ , though. He wouldn't have to be worried about being looked at strangely; unless he just found great displeasure at feeling the watch from the shadows on him.

Understandable.

Naruto simply shrugged, to which Konohamaru seemed to take it as a confirmation. "See, he gets it!"

The woman in the cat mask sighed. "It isn't _my_ decision to make. The condition was that if he were to let you go out into the village without him, I was to come with you. Your grandfather ordered it to keep you safe; as a precaution."

Konohamaru scoffed. "It's not like anyone's going to even lay a hand on me anyway… Remember; I'm the 'honorable grandson' of the Sandaime-hokage…" he spat bitterly.

"Yes, that _might_ be true, but—" the purple haired woman started, but was cut off.

"See, watch!" Before this point, Naruto honestly didn't expect him to try and prove his 'invincibility'… That would just be stupid, wouldn't it? Yeah probably, but apparently not in the brown haired child's book.

Konohamaru promptly rammed his foot down onto Naruto's foot, making the blonde boy curse under his breath at the unexpected pain and the ANBU woman sigh.

After a few seconds, Naruto recollected himself and looked to be several times more tired of the sheer bullshit the boy was spouting. His fingers twitched in annoyance. Konohamaru didn't appear to notice either of these things.

"Look! I dare you to—!" a hand harshly collided with the back of his head, sending him stumbling toward the purple haired woman, and making him drop to the street.

"Do you think I _care_? I don't _give a damn_ if he's your _grandmother_." Naruto hissed out, and the younger boy looked up with wide eyes at the one who had effectively _decked_ him.

"You… you hit me!"

Naruto gave him a decidedly bored glare. "And you stomped on my—a total stranger's—foot…" Like hell was this his fault… the blonde slowly turned and started to walk away.

"But… you'll…" Konohamaru looked up at the ANBU, who shook her head.

" _You're_ the one who provoked _him_." she stated firmly, staring at him. "I'm sure your grandfather would want you to apologize…" her words trailed off.

The brown haired boy stayed quiet for a few moments, but then lifted his head and started to open his mouth to speak.

However; as had been noted by the cat masked, purple haired woman, Naruto had already left.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Chapter 10 finished! Again, sorry it took so long to update, lots of life happening around this time of year. Chapter 11 should be up soon; but for now, please drop a review! I'm honestly perfectly fine even if you read it and just plain hate it, I want your opinion!**


	11. Dreadful Note

**Chapter 11! This actually only took about a week to write… Which sucks, because it took much longer than that to get** _ **motivated**_ **to write.**

— **Excuses, excuses. Anyway, here you go!**

The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.

* * *

 **Apartment Complex; 2:25 PM**

 _Naruto gave a long winded, tired sigh as he stepped up the last of the stairs and walked to his door, readying his key. Sticking it into the lock, he turned it, and then opened the door._

 _As soon as he put the first foot into his apartment, he could tell something was… off? Just a gut feeling really…_

 _It was sort of akin to that weird silence whenever the air conditioner turns off, leaving you without the oddly comforting thrum—actually, no. It was different than that…_

 _Sometimes he felt like this at night, like someone was watching him, but there never was—at least as far as he could tell; this was a hidden village after all. However, it was strange nonetheless._

 _Naruto shook his head, then adjusted his hat as per habit—attempting to break the unneeded tension that his mind had built up surrounding the weird feeling he was getting. It didn't go away._

 _The blond sighed, then continued into the sunlit apartment, turning to lock the door behind him._

" _I'm paranoid…" he dropped his bag and valued fur hat on his bed laying in the corner, simultaneously scanning the room around him; however he didn't come up with anything out of the ordinary. He poked his head into the bathroom, to the same results._

 _Nothing._

'… _Whatever.' the blond decided to ignore it, walking to his fridge—except that ignoring it was a grave mistake._

 _He suddenly froze when he felt something cold touch his neck—contrasting the mild warmth of his home—followed by an arm against his upper spine and a terribly familiar voice. Naruto's eyes widened, and a small shiver ran through his body._

" _If you even make a sound, I'll cut your tongue out…" the man behind him threatened, a smirk growing across his face. The blade dug deeper._

 _From this moment forth, the blond knew that the next hours of his life ran the high risk of not existing._

* * *

 **Unknown Location; 3:30~ PM**

A candle flickered in the darkness, illuminating a figure and casting shadows as pen scratching on paper was heard, putting ink to page as a note was formed. The scratching gradually slowed.

Naruto steadied his breathing as he lifted the pen off of the page and slowly set it down, inwardly cursing. He was _outwardly_ calm however, despite the current situation. Little emotion was held on his face, dimly lit by the candle in the dark cave he was sitting in. Violet blue eyes glared at the stone wall in silence.

"—Now stand up and put the blindfold back over your eyes. Remember—no sudden movements…" a voice hissed almost gleefully so from behind him, and he felt the kunai being held at his throat press more firmly into his neck, drawing a minuscule amount of blood. Obeying the order, Naruto hesitantly reached out, grabbing the black blindfold. He brought it to his eyes as instructed.

The blond felt a pair of hands grab the two ends of the blindfold from him, and begin to—not so gently—tie it tightly and securely around his head, taking care to not let any vision be had.

This was likely a physical clone, as Naruto could feel that the kunai was still being held to his neck. He had been hoping it wasn't so, but it made sense that a chunin might know one of the physical clone techniques; especially one that's held the rank for quite a few years.

This would make escaping alive much more difficult than it already was…

He could have tried to fight back of course, but there were multiple problems with that. Problems that _wouldn't_ easily be solved.

… _Another_ _life_ was tied to his very actions at the moment. The biggest issue with severing this 'tie' were the _explosive tags_ covering the neck of the other, unconscious, captive.

A simple flare of chakra from Mizuki and there wouldn't be much _left_ of _Sarutobi Konohamaru_. Only a _human-composed blotch of gore_ painted—more correctly, _splattered_ —across the walls, if there were even walls left after the explosion. _Bloody graffiti…_

In a short summary; he couldn't do anything, anytime soon. He was _Helpless._

* * *

Once Mizuki finished tying the blindfold, he grabbed the now instructively written letter from the table, letting his earth clone continue to hold the kunai. The silver haired man looked it over several times, examining every word and letter; searching for any hidden code, or anything that seemed out of place.

The _demon child_ was smart, despite what some thought—Mizuki knew this much. He had been observing the kid a lot more since he received this… _assignment_ … and that fact had become increasingly more apparent…

Not smart _enough_ , though.

"Mmph!" the chunin was interrupted, glancing over to the side towards the muffled sound. The annoying Sarutobi kid was awake. _Better_ yet, he could basically tell what was going on.

 _Wonderful._

The boy continued to try and scream through the cloth wrapped around his mouth.

"Hey, brat! Shut the hell up!" he kicked the boy in the stomach, causing the small child immediately pause in his screaming, and cough violently in pain as sobs and tears started to flow through the blindfold that was on his eyes. This only served to make Mizuki more annoyed.

" _Stop_ fucking crying too, little piece of shit!" the boy either didn't hear him, or didn't care; causing Mizuki to go over the metaphorical boiling point. "You want me to break a few bones!? Huh!? That'll give you something to _really_ cry about!" the silver haired man shouted, as he put his foot on one of the child's legs, applying force.

The boy quickly reduced himself to sniffles, meanwhile Naruto only sat there, his teeth clenched and still at the threat of blade point.

Mizuki calmed down again from his outburst, and continued looking over the letter. It was rather authentic feeling, but only _acceptable_ at most. It didn't quite hit the right _vibe_ for him for what he had been thinking of to force the demon brat to write, but they were on a time limit. Plus, the letter was just a lure, it didn't have to be _perfect_ ; just believable enough to get a hostage threat and warning across. For that purpose, he could tell it would do _just fine._ The seeds of doubt had already been tipped against the blonde's favor too, after all…

Also, when the child in question was already missing, that threat would become several times more believable. Nabbing the Sarutobi kid from Neko had actually been quite easy; it was absolutely _amazing_ what a well planned and well layered genjutsu could do, even if he totally sucked at it. Especially when the ANBU didn't have her guard very high up. She literally walked right into it, and didn't even _notice_.

' _Believably light persuasion to the mind, and it would carry itself the rest of the way'_ ; shinobi 101.

Mizuki took the note and rolled it up, tearing off a piece of the blue scarf the brown haired child had once worn to keep it closed. He slung the large loop he had made in the knot over his shoulder.

"Hey, blondie! Stand up!" he turned his head to order behind him as he pulled a woven potato sack-like bag from the small backpack he was carrying. Directing his sight back and crouching, he slid the bag over the bound boy's head—therefore concealing the many red and white tags lined around his neck—and threw him over his shoulder.

Mizuki watched as his clone finished doing the same to the 'Kyuubi-spawn' before nodding in signal. The real silver haired man walked over to the concealed cave exit and uncovered it, to which both Mizuki's stepped out. The earth clone hefted a reluctantly complaint Naruto in the same fashion as the real was, Konohamaru.

Once out, Mizuki carelessly dropped the Sarutobi boy to the ground causing the child to let out another muffled wheeze of pain. The chunin ignored this and unrolled a scroll he had taken from his waist. He tossed it down and started going through multiple hand signs, before he put his palm to the marking covered scroll.

" **Summoning Jutsu!** "

* * *

 **Hokage's Office; 5:20 PM**

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not having a very good day. In fact, he could say that he wasn't having a good year in general… The death of his oldest son and his wife was an event that had particularly taken a toll on him; as it would with any other caring father.

Now the only blood family he had were his youngest son Asuma, and his grandson Konohamaru.

However it appeared that even after such heartache, _this_ was being challenged as well.

As Tsunade had left the village temporarily; he was—as the previous hokage—left in charge. He had _honestly_ expected it to be just assigning high level missions to shinobi squads and lower level missions to genin cells, with a side of paperwork… Not this.

Less than 15 minutes ago, the body of Namika Mizuki had been found _dead_ in his apartment by his own girlfriend. Multiple slash and stab wounds to the mid-section, chest, and throat. A _murder_.

This itself was quite worrying. After all, there hadn't actually been any murders—at least, to any shinobi—since the Uchiha Massacre. His infamous veteran-shinobi ingrained danger detecting 'sixth-sense' was tingling—and it only got worse with a more recent report from Neko, the cat masked ANBU.

Unfortunately, this 'sense' _wasn't wrong…_ He was told that his grandson was pretty much declared _completely_ _missing_ just mere moments after he had found out about the murder.

Like, as in 'un-findable' _missing_. 'Gone without a single trace' kind of _**missing**_. Not even his famed crystal ball could find him. It was far beyond unsettling.

At first when he had heard this report from her, he had just brushed it off, thinking that maybe Konohamaru had actually managed to escape and hide from his escort for once in his life. However, what worried him the most was that the boy usually tried this on an everyday basis, but never even _came close_ to fooling her.

So; ' _What would make today any different?'_

Any ANBU worth one- _hundredth_ his or her pay could most _definitely_ find and catch the child, even if they were blind, deaf, and could only walk on their hands. _Hell_ , any civilian over the age of 6 with a quarter of a brain could find him; the child wasn't stealthy whatsoever.

As such _every single moment_ past only served to bring him more anxiety, more worry.

So it was grating hard on his mind that in between giving updates on the search, and sending others to do the same at frequent intervals—Neko and her squad had been effectively turning the village and surrounding forest _upside down_ , tearing both apart for nearly _two whole hours_ now trying to find Konohamaru.

No success.

After the hour and forty minute mark, Sarutobi Hiruzen almost felt as if the world was trying to play some cruel trick on him, and he would have very well gone out to help the search by now if it wasn't for the fact that _person_ after _person_ kept coming in to meet with or report to him, such as was the case at this very moment. He decided this would absolutely be the last one before he went out himself; yet this wouldn't come to pass either.

…Just for the world to further mess with him, there was now currently a _ripped-blue-scarf_ sealed letter sitting on the desk in front of him. A piece of the very same scarf that Konohamaru always wore. It even had all of the damn _stains_.

Hiruzen took a few seconds to gaze at it, before he had glanced up from the letter that he had yet to open. "Kakashi…? Where did you find this…?" the words uttered barely came out above a whisper.

The recently promoted Jonin looked up from his Icha-Icha book. "Oh, as I was walking here from after a mission—oh, by the way, mission complete—an ANBU passed it off to me to bring here to you. He told me that it was extremely important, as it was addressed to you, but that he hadn't read it. It's from a crime scene, the murder of an academy teacher's assistant, 'Mizuki'?" Kakashi finished, and then—now fully sensing the emotion that was permeating throughout the room—he wisely decided to store his book away for the time being.

The Sandaime's eyes narrowed at this new evidence/information. ' _The crime scene?'_

Was it possible… Did the same person that murdered Mizuki… _kidnap_ Konohamaru? No, It couldn't be… _could it_?

Enemies were always trying to get one over on Konohagakure, so it wasn't impossible. _Not in the slightest._

A few seconds of silence ensued, as he stared intently at the scarf wrapped parchment roll. Without wasting any more time than he already had, Hiruzen quickly reached out and started to carefully pull the paper out of its confinement.

The moment his vision landed on the first sentence, a sick feeling arose in his stomach. The kind of sick feeling he hadn't felt since he had effectively assigned a teenager to commit the genocide of his family—something that although it hadn't gone entirely according to plan, he would never forgive himself for. His eyes only grew wider and his breathing only became less rhythmic with each _word_.

* * *

 _I'm sorry Old Man. I'm the one who kidnapped_ _ **him**_ _. I can't take it anymore; always being mistreated, and glared at._ _ **Hated**_ _. I really just can't stand to live in this village anymore—the longer I stay, the more I want to lash out; Mizuki-teme is an example of this._

 _Have Umino Iruka bring me the Forbidden Scroll of Secrets alone and unarmed; only then will I let_ _ **him**_ _go. If anyone else comes, or Iruka doesn't show up,_ _ **he dies**_ — _however, if all goes well, you can have_ _ **him**_ _back in one piece._

— _Have him meet me a bit shy of the Forest of Death, in the clearing near the Kame-Bridge at sunset, 7:00._

* * *

Once he was finished, he nearly dropped the note, yet prevented himself from doing so. He immediately stood up out of his chair and walked out from behind his desk, to Kakashi. Hiruzen held the letter out for Kakashi, who blinked in confusion, then hesitantly grabbed it.

"What is it?" the mostly masked man asked, wondering what it contained that could make the Sandaime have such a reaction.

"…Just read it." Hiruzen closed his eyes, thinking.

It was only moments later that Kakashi had finished going over the contents of the parchment, a feeling of dread coming over him as well. "My God… Naruto…?" Kakashi breathed out. Even with no name on the letter, both could clearly tell that it _was_ the blond's handwriting. And according to the letter, he had possibly _murdered_ a man, and took Konohamaru _hostage_. "Mizuki… Your grandson… What?" Kakashi looked up from the note.

Hiruzen only turned a serious eye to the younger man.

There was a large portion of both of their brains that was telling them that maybe Naruto _didn't_ do it; that disagreed. However the handwriting was _spot on_ , and given the murder, the circumstances, and the motive…

It all formed into plausibility. However, Naruto was _never_ known to be a violent boy… So it was just that… _Plausibility_. This could have been someone just trying to make Naruto take the blame, knowing of his well below average standing in the village; if so, they were doing a _very_ convincing job with going as far as to study the boy for so long as to know that the blond _used_ to call him 'Old man' and learn to forge Naruto's handwriting…

It was hard to believe, but there _were_ people in the world that would go to such lengths.

' _Also, how does would he know about the forbidden scroll?'_ the scroll—guarded by the Hokage him/herself, filled with forbidden techniques; was on a need-to-know basis. Completely _secret_ ; hence the 'secret' portion of the name. How would a child—albeit a smart child—even find out about it?

These questioning thoughts didn't linger long as they were soon interrupted.

"Sandaime-sama?" the doors opened and third voice appeared in the room; the desk receptionist. Both men's heads turned to the source, Hiruzen speaking.

"Not now Mai… I'll hear what you must say later, but not right at this moment…" the old man waved the woman off. Mai paused, only to humm awkwardly, before continuing despite the request from her high superior.

"Um… well, you see it has to do with _that_ child." she said uncomfortably, referring to the object of the other two's thoughts, and therefore directing their full attention to her.

Hiruzen widened his eyes his eyes slightly, before talking. "…Continue?"

Mai sighed to herself, pointing downstairs. "There's a man on the trade council down there saying that yesterday… _Uzumaki-san_ … put his son in the hospital with a concussion, fractured skull, and multiple bruises… The son apparently couldn't remember much, but according to the records-" she held up the mentioned documentation.

"-the medics agree that some sort of heavy stone projectile was the cause of the head wound… The man says that _Uzumaki-san_ didn't even bother to take him to the hospital; some passerby did. Apparently he wants the boy to be severely punished, and stripped of the right to become a shinobi; with prison time also…" the woman finished, deciding not to voice her slight agreement on the matter in favor of the councilman's accusations—she knew about the elderly partly-retired Hokage's thoughts on the subject.

"Wait… _The black eye_ …?" Hiruzen whispered under his breath, tightening his fists. It wasn't from a spar. Naruto _lied_ to him? Kakashi picked up on this and took it as a confirmation on what was probably a fight, given that both boys received injury.

Both men turned to each other again, eyes hardened, while the doubts they each had about Naruto's 'violent urges' slowly became fractionally less solid… A fight ending with a _fractured skull_? That was a _serious_ injury; and if the councilman's accusations were to be believed, Naruto was the one who inflicted it… And didn't even take the boy to the hospital. Did he fear punishment of some sort? Or was it purely because he didn't care?

Just what did they _actually_ know about Uzumaki Naruto?

Hiruzen turned back to the woman, who seemed to be waiting for a response. "That's enough Mai, thank you!" he watched as the woman blinked and nodded in confusion, before closing the door; only then did he continue.

"Kakashi, I want you to go to Naruto's apartment; if he's there, come find me _immediately_! I'll contact Iruka and inform him about the situation! Go!" the Sandaime ordered, to which Kakashi nodded and disappeared in a shunshin, and Hiruzen followed shortly after.

Time was ticking.

* * *

 **Outside of the Forest of Death; 6:48 PM**

"12 minutes." Mizuki counted down, waiting until it reached 7:00 before he would just take both boys and escape. Why kill off a potential future bargaining chip in the Sarutobi boy? Orochimaru wouldn't be displeased—hopefully—if he were to receive an _extra_ besides his main goal. Maybe it would even make up for the possible lack of the scroll?

But that was only if Iruka didn't show. Yet, Mizuki held little doubts that he would. So few doubts, in fact, that he could practically feel the perimeter of ANBU forming around him at about a mile in each direction. Too bad for them it wouldn't help.

" **Henge.** " Mizuki took the form of Naruto, and proceeded to drag Konohamaru into the middle of the clearing in front of him. He proceeded to yank the bag off of his head, revealing most of the boys face, and the explosive tags to the world again.

"Hey! Wake up!" ' _Naruto_ ' said to Konohamaru, but when the boy didn't stir, he kicked him in the stomach for a second time. "Kid, wake up! You can't _cry for help_ asleep!"

Konohamaru coughed up a small amount of blood into the gag, signifying his awakening. He turned on his side and curled. The henge'd Mizuki ripped the blindfold off of the boy's face, revealing eyes closed tightly in pain.

"Now _listen,_ and listen _closely_ brat. There's going to be a scarred man coming into this clearing in a few minutes. When he does; you are going to _beg for your life_ —or I'm going to blow you into a thousand bloody pieces…" ' _Naruto_ ' threatened, unsheathing the sword he had found in the real Naruto's apartment and pointing it at Konohamaru. "Understood?"

There was no response. ' _Naruto_ ' decided to repeat it, this time dropping the sheath of the sword and getting down on one knee, grabbing him by the throat with his now free hand. He forced the boy onto his back and pressed his hold on Konohamaru's neck, making the boy open his eyes to look at him. "I said; understood? Answer me!"

The boy held both confusion and fear in his eyes as he nodded. The henge'd Mizuki released the hold, then got back up. "Good."

Once this demand was sufficiently made clear he walked back over a fair amount into the trees where Naruto was still bound and gagged, sitting against a tree, with the Mizuki clone guarding him on the branch above. He next proceeded to push the real blond's bagged head against the tree, forcing a muffled grunt from Naruto's clothed mouth.

"And you; move or talk, and my clone will introduce your face to the ground until you can't taste your blood over the dirt in your mouth." the henge'd Mizuki didn't wait for a reply this time, letting Naruto go and giving the clone a single hand signal, then simply turning around and walking back to the clearing.

Just in time too. He could just make out Iruka, scroll in hand, no shinobi pouches or weapons whatsoever. Perfect.

Naruto bit down on the cloth in his mouth, feeling the pain in the back of his head, but didn't try anything—he wasn't stupid. The blond simply waited, listening as the henge'd man walked away. He immediately then turned his thoughts to contemplating how he could escape. The blond ignored the rapidly chirping crickets in the background as he observed as much about his current location as possible with the disability of the bag still covering his vision. It wasn't much; as one could likely figure out.

All he had assured was that there was an open clearing a relatively short-run's distance behind him, and an earth clone above him on a tree branch—completely ready to silence him through violent methods if he so much as shifted position; seeing as said clone was holding a sort of leash on him in the form of a long piece of rope that led from his feet. That would be problematic, but it _could_ work in his favor. Mizuki was under a henge of him, judging by the voice, so if the man could play the part well enough and manage to escape with him and the scroll…

 _He_ would be the one hunted, until Konohagakure could recover the Kyuubi—at almost any cost. _Not_ Mizuki; who was 'murdered' by him. It was actually quite a clever plan.

But where did he even _get_ a snake summon? Led alone—if his assumption was correct—one that was able to _regurgitate_ replicated _dead bodies_? Summoning contracts weren't exactly passed around—most summons typically only let one, and at _most_ two, hold the contract at any given time—and _especially_ not the one that the _snake sennin_ that went rogue, took with him.

This was how he had come to the conclusion that Mizuki was essentially working for _Orochimaru_ , of all people… And it suddenly made a lot more sense.

It was quite easy to see now why Mizuki didn't just straight up kill him, or do much more than threaten to hurt him. For all intents and purposes, he was being kidnapped to become a _human needle cushion_ for twisted science. _He_ himself was likely the main prize, _not_ the scroll. The thought of the possibility that Mizuki could just abandon the scroll all together did not escape him.

He had to come up with _something._ There was no way he would let himself become a chemical-doll, not without a fight.

Without moving his body in any noticeable manner Naruto fidgeted with his wrists binding, to no avail. He needed a knife, as there was no way he could untie them—

—Unless… he could _burn_ it. Electricity? Could that work? Sure it would hurt like _hell_ , and he might even temporarily paralyze his arms but he would be _free_ ; and then his only other problem of the minute would be the blindfold, feet binds, and the clone. The first two things he immediately determined as detrimental to his survival in a battle with the third. That was, if he could even win a fight with the clone anyway— _without_ Mizuki finding out and blasting Konohamaru to smithereens as a default course of action.

He wasn't exactly the best at taijutsu—he didn't pack enough punch, or have quite enough technique to come even close to chunin level—and he didn't have any weapons to help him, which was a problem he would have to solve before any serious engagements.

The sword was out of the question then, as Mizuki most _definitely_ had his sword. The man had pretty much ransacked his apartment of any valuables he could find—of which was not many, but his sword definitely happened to be one, along with his hat and ryo savings… He would have to get those back as well, but they were lower on the priority list.

Wait _._

' _I'm a moron.'_ Naruto widened his eyes, opening them inside the blindfold. Earth was weak to lightning chakra. If his arms were _already_ going to be paralyzed, then what would pumping a few extra volts into them matter, besides the agonizing pain and nerve damage? Or would his pain receptors give out before that?

Seeing as he was low on time, there wasn't much to reconsider.

' _I guess I'll find out in a few seconds…'_ He took a deep breath and started to charge his hands full of lightning chakra, letting it build up. Again, Naruto bit down hard on the cloth preparing for the pain, and leaned back against the tree trying to conceal as much of what he was doing for as long as possible—though he wasn't sure if it was helping at all, as it was probably dark already—while stray bolts of electricity started to escape from his hands.

They slowly started to become more rapid—more erratic; and more audible with a small noise that sounded like a bunch of magnets coming together all at once, hundreds of times over, only getting louder with each passing second. The rope itself soon started to singe under the current it was being subjected to—

"Oi! _What the hell_ is that?!" he heard a voice coming from the branch above him. The earth clone had caught on, and landing next to him, went to put a kunai to his neck. It was far too late though.

The rope snapped—or more appropriately; _frayed and_ _burned_ —and with a high pitched screech, bright white lightning chakra exploded from his hands in a shower of sparks and electricity, surging outward and finding every surface it could to send voltage into. Without hesitation, Naruto swung his freed arms in the direction of the clone's landing.

"Fuck!" The Mizuki clone must have made the decision that this was dangerous enough to warrant that instead of trying to bring the blond back under submission, he would drop the rope leash; opting to jump back up and cover his face and neck with his arm. This allowed Naruto to accomplish his goal of using the tree to make a blind and clumsy leap away. The blond managed to use his one functional and non-utterly-electrically fried hand—not to say it was in top working condition, but it was good _enough_ —to tear the bag, and blindfold off of his head in one motion.

Naruto hurriedly blinked away the spots in his eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the new conditions.

"Oh no you don't!" It seemed that the clone managed to recover quickly; as the blond now found himself being yanked back by the rope leash on his feet. ' _Damnit!'_ Naruto cursed internally, and started to charge his hand again. He didn't get very far into the process before the clone was directly in front of him. Picking him up by the shirt, the silver haired chakra construct drove him back first into a tree, making the blond cough as the breath was knocked out of him.

" _Game over!_ " Naruto briefly heard, and choked up spit into the gag when a fist impacted his stomach. He nearly slumped against it, but was caught by a hand to his throat. "Didn't we warn you that there would be consequences—?" another fist impacted his stomach making blood leak from his mouth, only to be soaked up by the gag again.

" _I mean—,_ " another. "I would have _thought—_ ," again. "that you would _get the picture_!" the clone finished with one solid, final punch. He then held Naruto up to the tree, depriving him of oxygen, and forcing the boy to grab the earth clone's arm with his only useful arm; lest he suffocate to death.

The blond convulsed, then coughed up more blood; now _streaming_ through the cloth and down his chin, neck, and shoulders. It was only a few seconds before Naruto slowly lifted his head and gave the 'man' a venomous, _murderous_ glare.

"Phok… Wuew…" he said through the cloth, making absolutely no sense to the clone. Confused, he pulled the gag out of the boy's mouth. "What are you spewing, _freak_?"

Naruto tightened the grip on the clone's arm. "I said…" he took a deep breath through the hold, preparing himself for what he was about to do. "— _Fuck you_."

All in the span of a moment; using the hold the blond had in the form of his left hand on the clone's arm, he pulled his knees to his chest in perfect synch, then pushed out over the chakra constructs shoulder, his ankles dragging the leash across the opposite side of the clone's neck. Naruto dropped his hand, and grabbed the leash, simultaneously pulling both ends.

"Sh—!" This caused the Mizuki clone to let go of the blond's throat in order to counter or block whatever Naruto was attempting to do to him.

This only served to help the boy even further, as reacting in a beneficial manner, Naruto curled his legs over the clone's back, and pulled the rope over the front of it's neck, wrapping it around as many times as he could without allowing the clone any room to stop it—that being twice.

Doing this caused both to fall to the ground—with the help of Naruto using his back to push off from the tree, so that he himself wouldn't hit the unforgivingly hard wood—as the chakra construct was no longer able to stand. Within seconds, the blond had used his left arm like a spool, and spun the rope around it multiple times; therefore tightening it in on the clone's neck so much that it would kill any normal man by entirely cutting off blood circulation and air flow. **(1)**

And this just happened to be _less_ than a normal man… within less than a second, the clone was reduced to soft earth, and Naruto allowed himself a short time to breathe. The blond didn't have much time though, as he realized that this was just one small win… There bigger fish to be fried. With this thought in mind, Naruto ripped the gag off, and hurriedly got to work on the knots binding his feet. A yell pierced through the air.

"No! Konohamaru—!" "Naruto; I have the scroll here, look!" there was a short pause, before six _dreadfully ominous_ words reached his ears, a scream carrying the latter three. "Wait, hold on!"

" _ **DON'T DO IT**!_ "

' _No-no-no!'_ Naruto's mind repeated in rapid succession. The blond grit his teeth, and his working on the knots became even more frantic than it already was. He was just barely able to get them undone, and he bolted up.

It seemed that the _real_ hostage threat was being carried out to _full effect_. It didn't seem that Mizuki was bluffing. Not in the slightest. And if that was the case…

Someone was about to _**die**_. The hourglass was almost out; and this one couldn't be simply 'flipped back over'.

 _Naruto absolutely had to stop him._ However, an issue pronounced itself above all others…

—It sounded as if he had a _**negative**_ amount of time to do it.

* * *

 **(1)** Similar to that first opening scene in Assassin's Creed: Revelations, for some reason I was thinking about it, and it somehow, I made it fit. (Hopefully)

 **A/N**

 **Thanks for reading, and putting up with me so far! I do hope this chapter is to your enjoyment. I also hope the story's plot is taking a turn for the better; I feel as if I'm beginning to be less lazy—amazingly enough.**

 **A side note, too. For people who STILL believe that Izumi is an OC or FemItachi… Simply put; No offense, but… what do you not understand? I'm pretty sure I put enough reason to believe she ISN'T Itachi… Although I do understand why some people think she's an OC; her character is pretty obscure. Though I do assure you, she's very much canon, and even makes a debut in the anime… Search her name, and she'll come up on the Naruto Wiki. Hope this cleared some things up for you, and also; feel free to PM me for things you don't understand. I'm pretty sure I've put this down before, but—**

 **If you've made it this far in, and still dislike it, please do explain why! I understand that this story isn't for everyone; heckler it may only be for a miniscule niche… But don't leave me the equivalent of being a fish on dry land!**


	12. Tense Situation

**Chapter 12!**

 **Before I get to it though, I have decide to answer a review (thank you all for those, by the way, you guys should do it more! :P ) in this chapter; mostly because some of you may be wondering something similar.**

" **Will there be a Naruto x Ami pairing?"**

 **Very possibly. Though, I'm going to put it out there that originally, I hadn't thought on such a thing all that much. HOWEVER; now that I've given it some serious consideration… It's very likely. If you couldn't tell already, I plan on Naruto and Ami becoming friends; It just may develop into something** _ **more**_ **.**

 **Ok, now onward! Think of this chapter as the flip-side of chapter 11, as it deals with the hour-½ 'blank span' of time between when Kakashi and Hiruzen split off—to check Naruto's apartment and get Iruka, respectively—last chapter, and what happens in the encounter with Iruka and 'Fake Naruto' during when Naruto defeats the Mizuki Clone. It's mostly in Iruka's PoV but there are minor deviations into the minds of a bunch of other characters.**

 **The 'Naruto' Franchise, or any other works by Kishimoto, do not belong to me.**

* * *

 **Konoha Academy; 5:29**

 _When the Sandaime Hokage appeared in front of someone in a tornado of leaves, sporting clenched fists and an expression serious enough to match the T &I's finest Morino Ibiki on a bad day, it had a tendency to instill a great sense of… urgency in that person. _

_Umino Iruka was no different._

 _The young man set down the papers he was holding, and gave a short bow of respect immediately. Confusion ruled among his facial expressions, and Iruka could tell something was wrong just by the look in the older man's eyes. "Er- Sandaime-sama? May I ask what-?" Iruka was cut off by the hard voice of the man standing in front of him, shutting him up immediately._

" _Chunin; Umino Iruka-san, I order you, as your previous Hokage, to come with me_ _ **immediately**_ _. We have limited time, and all will be explained to you in due time."_

 _Iruka blinked, and furrowed his eyebrows in further confusion. What could the previous Hokage possibly want with him? There was no point in arguing or questioning, however. That fact alone that there was a situation dire enough to evoke such a persona out of the man held quite a bit of weight itself. There was most certainly a serious problem._

" _Yes sir!" Iruka replied with a nod, to which the veteran shinobi was already poised for a shunshin. With no forewarning from the Third, he was unprepared for when the scenery blurred. Leukaemia found his vision momentarily stunted, and as it came back to focus he found himself in the Hokage's office. Even though caught off guard, he corrected and conducted himself as professionally as possible; straightening his posture._

" _Iruka-san, I do understand that you're confused, but this note will 'explain' the situation. Before you read, though… I'll inform you that we had a death in our shinobi ranks today…" Hiruzen paused. "The corpse of Namika Mizuki was found in his apartment less than half an hour ago."_

 _It took the young man a moment to process. 'Huh? The corpse of who…?'_

 _Iruka's racing mind—previously flowing with ideas about what the situation at hand was, and wondering how it could involve him specifically—slowed to a halt, and with this his eyes widened._

 _The_ _ **corpse**_ _of_ _ **Namika Mizuki**_ —

" _Wait… Mizuki… is dead…?" the words came out in a low tone, denoting slight disbelief in what his superior was telling him. His—quite possibly best—friend? The one with grayish-silver hair, green eyes, and a bad sense of humor; who nearly failed his test in their last year of the academy, barely slipping by with a 75%? The one who always wore a bandanna covering his head? That Mizuki?_

'— _Less than half an hour ago?'_

 _He was in the village, as less than a few hours ago they had been in the same classroom together; no mission assignments. So would that mean it was…? The scarred man stayed silent for a moment, before speaking yet again. "…Somebody killed him?"_

 _Hiruzen hesitantly nodded his head, to which Iruka narrowed his eyes and asked a question in reply. "…Do—we know who did it?"_

 _Another hesitant nod came from the Sandaime. The scarred chunin balled his fists, his eyes boring into the older man. "Then why aren't we going after—?!"_

" _Quiet!" Iruka flinched and immediately silenced himself under the will of the Third. Hiruzen then continued. "…In a manner of speaking, we are. From the note the… killer-" the Third seemed to have some trouble with the latter term. "-claims that he has my_ _ **grandson**_ _as well. This is a_ _ **hostage**_ _note. He's holding Konohamaru under ransom… We can't just go in guns blazing or he'll kill…" the grandfather of the boy in question faltered, then steadied his breathing._

 _The Sandaime handed the young man said trigger letter for the subject matter at hand. "Read it and you'll understand…"_

 _Iruka hastily unfurled it, his eyes scanning it over. After a few seconds he looked up again, now understanding the weight of the situation. "…Do you know why 'he' wants… me—of all people—to deliver the scroll? There are a bunch of others who could do the same thing; and there wouldn't be the slightest difference in delivery other than maybe time…? Picking someone without any shinobi training would be the most beneficial wouldn't it?" he reasoned._

 _Hiruzen shook his head, sighing. "That's not exactly the largest issue here. Our main trouble is_ _ **who**_ _exactly wrote the letter," Iruka was about to ask, until another person appeared in the office; stopping the elderly man from finishing his explanation._

 _The remnants of a Konoha-Shunshin disappeared as Kakashi finished a string of curses whispered under his breath. "Sandaime-sama; Naruto isn't there, and everything of value was taken from his apartment. There's no signs of a struggle or anything, from what I can tell."_

 _Kakashi expected the reaction that had followed these words. Hiruzen suddenly slammed a fist into the Hokage's desk. "Damnit…"_

 _Iruka for his part, tried to understand why_ _ **he**_ _was of any concern. However, this led to him slowly figuring out how the pieces fit together; and when they did, the name came out as more of a hiss or growl than intended in front of the Sandaime._

 _But how else would you speak the name of the one who holds the being—the_ _ **demon**_ — _that caused your parent's and so many other's deaths. The name of the one who had apparently murdered his friend, and was now holding the Third Hokage's grandson under the threat of death, if he didn't get the village's Scroll of Forbidden Secrets…_

" _Sandaime-sama? The one who wrote this note… The killer… It's **Uzumaki Naruto** , isn't it?" _

_Hiruzen barely kept himself from releasing a wince at the tone of voice, turning his attention back to the chunin. He only gave a short nod, confirming Iruka's suspicions._

* * *

 **Forest; 6:54**

Why? It was a one syllable question that could be asked about almost anything. It was infinitely inexplainable. Just like how 'Where' was infinitely expandable; or 'When' was infinitely indefinable. Confusing, yet that's how it was.

However, even with that understood, Iruka still wanted an answer; an _explanation_. Why did Mizuki have to die? What reason could that… _boy_ … have possibly had for killing him?

He would admit that the topic of Uzumaki Naruto didn't exactly bring to mind 'sunshine, happiness, and rainbows' for the vast majority of Konoha's population—especially Mizuki, who frequently raged about the 'demon child'.

 _~the longer I stay, the more I want to lash out; Mizuki-teme is an example of this.~_

Obviously, there was a mutual _hate_ between _him_ and Mizuki; but was that enough reason for said boy to just take his life—to kill him?!

 _~I can't take it anymore; always being mistreated, and glared at._ _ **Hated**_ _. I really just can't stand to live in this village anymore~_

If _that_ was the reason, he was calling; total _bullshit_.

How could the boy's life have been any harder than his own!? No one cared about him either! Nobody cared about his success in life, or the fact that he had little-to-no place to go home to…

No. They all just left him _alone_ to grieve at the memorial stone for his parents deaths; in his opinion, something far worse than being charged extra at the market or being looked at funny!

He didn't have any money; no place to himself. He wasn't a damn _prodigy_ like the kid was either—something he had come to see fairly quickly was the case when examining his practical test scores and spar record.

Everything he had, his grades, his home, his money, and most of all his _friends_ ; all of it he _worked_ for—!

Iruka nearly lost his footing and missed the next branch, jerking him back to reality. Seeing he was becoming increasingly more hostile—causing self-harm—he centered himself, then took a deep breath, venting the built up anger as he tree hopped towards the 'meeting' location.

' _Calm yourself. This isn't the time. Focus on the plan!'_ he told himself. There was no option; he couldn't screw this up. There was a life on the line.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _ **Meeting Room; 5:45 PM**_

" _I don't fully understand why we can't just send in a few ANBU, or even better, a few jounin? Unless the Kyuubi container somehow managed to acquire the power of a full S-rank, I cannot fathom why we can't just perform a covert takedown?" Koharu inquired._

 _Kakashi put his hand to the table, glancing around the room and drawing the attention of all present. "Listen. There's a few reasons that we can't do that; mostly because we have some major problems with_ _ **any**_ _strategies—that one included—we could theoretically attempt." a few eyebrows raised, as the people in the room awaited his full explanation._

" _Firstly… We have absolutely_ _ **no idea**_ _about the plans or thoughts going through Naruto's head… if it's even Naruto at all." it was easy to point fingers, and some looked as if they wanted to reject this belief—sure that it was, in fact, Uzumaki Naruto—however Kakashi held up a hand._

" _He—or whoever it may be—might have set up traps, or some way of detecting the area around the meeting point. It's possible that whoever it is could have some way of guaranteeing their escape, or have set up an auto-kill system… We're pretty much blind as it is now." Kakashi bit his tongue, so hard it might bleed. "—There's even the issue that… 'they' might willingly just commit suicide… "_

 _He continued, one upping his last statement in sheer gravity. "If that truly is Naruto, there is a chance that, should he do that, the Kyuubi could reform after his death." everyone went completely silent in understanding._

" _It's only a small chance—and we don't know if it's actually possible at all, but I'd rather not be the one to blame for a second 'attack of the Kyuubi'. I'm sure you all share this sentiment?" the rhetoric question was left unanswered._

 _Kakashi sat back down. If anyone had asked him a week ago if he would have thought he would be helping strategize on how to perform a non-lethal takedown of—what could very well be—his sensei's ten year old son without risking said blonde killing Sarutobi Konohamaru or killing_ _ **himself**_ — _with a possible side effect of releasing the Kyuubi into the world…_

 _Well, he would have labeled that person crazy. Totally mental. And yet here he was, doing exactly that. It was so… fucked up—to put it lightly._

" _I agree. I honestly believe the best we're probably going to be able to get is just a perimeter around the general area. To at least follow behind as they escape, or stop 'them' all together. We can't really risk much more than that." Hiruzen stated, which was met with mostly agreement from the rest of the shinobi council who were present in the village—only Inuzuka Tsume and a select few others seemed to hold the slightest of discontentment with the Sandaime._

 _She sighed in aggravation. "I'm just saying, there's no way in hell that he could have so many grounds covered like you both think. I'm not trying to deny the seriousness of the situation, but even if he's possibly killed a chunin, we can't forget that he's only a child. For all we really know, the kid just poisoned him, and struck while the guy was weak."_

 _Tsume massaged her temples. "We're dealing with an academy student for fucks' sake; not Iwa…"_

 _Iruka—who had also taken a seat at the table—grit his teeth, hearing the woman disregard Mizuki's death so easily, but stayed quiet. Kakashi turned his exposed eye towards her._

" _I doubt anyone is going to completely disagree with you—you could be right—but as I mentioned, even if Naruto isn't the one behind this, whoever they are aren't just going to let us just walk in there to have tea… We can't underestimate this—and again, personally I would rather be safe than sorry…"_

 _Chouza scoffed. "What's to say the dem-" Kakashi shot him a narrow eyed glare. "-_ _ **boy**_ … _Isn't the one responsible? Just having faith that he didn't do it; that's not good enough. You and Sandaime-sama believe that it is his handwriting, combined with the fact that he's missing, and all the other evidence… So where's the actual proof that he may not have done it?" Inoichi shot him a disapproving glance, but Iruka was inclined to agree; the evidence was all over painting_ _ **him**_ _as the one who did it._

 _Hiruzen answered in place of Kakashi, who looked to be about to counter yet another argument. "I'm going to be honest when I say; we don't have very much proof. But I just visited him yesterday, and he was acting perfectly normal. Never to my, or the ANBU's knowledge, has he complained or threatened anyone, picked any fights before, or showed any sadistic or murderous behavior at all." he took a breath._

" _Now I do understand that he could have just hid it well; but as the one left in command with Tsunade's absence, and as the one you all and Tobirama sensei had entrusted to guide and watch over Konohagakure no Sato for years before and even after the Yondaime's unfortunately short time in among us… I do not completely believe Uzumaki Naruto is the one who has committed this heinous crime upon the village." Hiruzen finished, practically fishing for objections to his statement. Chouza only grunted in reluctant acceptance._

" _I'm moved to agree with you Sandaime-sama." the stoically neutral Aburame Shibi was the next one to speak up. "Back to the more priority matter at hand—in response to Kakashi-san's previous statement… There's always a weakness; it's just a matter of finding it. We have only one chance to prod for it, and what we should be asking ourselves is—"_

 _He looked around the room. "—how badly do they actually want the scroll?"_

 _In other words; what were their limits? How large was the room for error?_

* * *

Iruka slowed down as the clearing came into to view, along with a singular figure lying in the grass. Though he had rarely seen the boy, he could tell that it was in fact _Sarutobi Konohamaru_ , bound by the wrists and feet.

This wasn't entirely unexpected… There was something lacking, however. Where was—?

"Hello, Iruka-san. It's nice to see that you decided to _show_ _up_." ' _Naruto_ ' appeared from the trees, coming into the clearing; donning ' _his_ ' fur hat, and twirling an orange hilted sword in hand. As he walked the blond appeared to cast an expectant glance down at the small child on the ground, drawing Iruka's attention back. Konohamaru coughed up a few dribbles of blood, tears rolling down his face, and the scarred man could make out what seemed to be—explosive tags.

' _Oh god…'_ Iruka covered his mouth. _There were explosive tags lining the boy's neck._

It was so _damn_ _simple_. And yet; so… _effective_. The only variable that could really stop the ' _blond_ ' from detonating the tags was ruining the fuinjutsu seals, disabling his hands, or killing him.

Iruka widened his eyes, as his grip on the scroll increased. _~However, if all goes well, you can have_ _ **him**_ _back in_ _ **one piece**_ _.~_ It gave a whole new… _ghastly_ meaning to those already terrible words.

His ears suddenly picked up on something. Past the slight breeze that rolled through the trees, and the chirping of the crickets, he could barely make out a low, weak voice. It was Konohamaru's mouth that was moving in sync.

"P-please…" it was a whimpering sob. "I d-don't want to d-die…" there was a small hiccup accompanied by a pause. Then Konohamaru took in a painful sob choked breath, before crying out again. "I don't want to die…!"

It almost brought tears to his eyes. ' _Naruto_ ' looked somewhat pleased, sickening Iruka to the core. The blond shifted his vision back to the dark haired man, and smirked, tilting his head to the side. The young man witnessed as ' _Naruto_ ' slipped one of his hands into a pocket in his shorts.

He drove his sword into the ground with his unpocketed hand. "You heard 'em Iruka. Also—I think you might find that I've taken the _liberty_ of giving you a lil' extra _incentive_." using the empty hand, he gestured around to the surrounding trees. "Maybe this is just a new saying I've created for myself; but 'When in doubt—add more explosives'. Pretty sound advice, huh?" with those words he drew out another explosive tag from his shorts, waving it in front of himself.

It could have been the lack of light, due to the setting sun; or maybe the stress—however Iruka hadn't even _noticed_ them. There were even more tags on the trees. Not once had they gained his attention. Now when pointed out, though; _how could he have not?_ Said chunin froze, right hand gripping the scroll while the gears of his mind spun in grinding rotation.

Iruka was well aware couldn't back down now—not that he ever could. He was a shinobi of the hidden leaf, meaning he was willing to put down his life for the sake of the villages citizens. The honorable grandson of the Third most definitely counted.

He couldn't help that he slightly distrusted the efficacy of the plans of his superiors, though. If this didn't work…

* * *

" _Hiruzen… If I may inquire? From a standpoint; how much value does your grandson actually hold, compared to the Forbidden Techniques?" Shimura Danzo asked, contemplatively; speaking for the first time since the meeting was called. Hiruzen turned and glared at the heavily bandaged man, with the others in the room having varying thoughts about the question._

" _Danzo… If you're suggesting that we-" the Sandaime began, only to be stopped._

" _No, no; it was just a question… I was simply playing 'devil's advocate', if you will…" Danzo waved him off; yet Hiruzen continued to stare at the man, sensing that the former ROOT leader had more to say. "However, it needs to be answered; if push-came-to-shove, what would we sacrifice? The boy—or the scroll?"_

 _Silence instantly came over the room, and a small amount of killing intent leaked from Sarutobi Hiruzen. Many looked as if they wanted to oppose the implications of such a question… but they couldn't. Nearly all standards considered—with the exception of moral—the scroll was undeniably more important than a single child, lineage be damned._

 _The safety of the village, and it's secrets were just too much to give up; especially if there was the possibility that they might already lose the Kyuubi's host._

… _This was the scroll containing techniques the like of which—if rumors were true—could_ _ **summon soul stealing gods**_ _,_ _ **break**_ _**people's minds**_ _,_ _ **trade lives**_ _; and others of that nature. There were no copies of it anywhere on the earth, and allowing anyone to get their hands on it could lead to unparalleled death, destruction, and chaos…_

" _You shouldn't let your emotions rule your decisions, Hiruzen… The outcome would be a lot worse."_

* * *

Iruka carefully brought up the hand holding the scroll, to which ' _Naruto_ ' twitched his fingers in the universal 'toss it to me' signal. " _Come on, Iruka-san!_ my patience is running a bit _low_ …"

"Are-…Are you going to keep to your word?" Iruka asked slowly. It was so _stupid_ , and he knew it. Why the hell would he even ask that? For petty lies, that the _demon child_ would actually _keep_ his word? Assurance?

' _Naruto_ ' raised an eyebrow, then suddenly burst into a disbelieving cackle. The sounds echoed in the darkening clearing.

Iruka flinched, resisting the urge to crack. "Are you?"

The ' _blond_ ' continued on for a few more seconds, before finally slowing his uncontained laughs and responding. "Aha—ah… 'Am I going to keep my word', eh?" the ' _boy_ ' scoffed.

"Fine. I'll admit; I do _intend_ to… under the _right circumstances_. Those being that you give me that scroll, and let me walk, without _anyone_ —and I mean _anyone_ , _thing_ or otherwise—lifting a _single finger_. 'That enough assurance for you?"

Iruka didn't give much of an answer, only glancing back to Konohamaru. The tears were still flowing down the young boy's face. It hardened his resolve to commit to the plan. He brought his arm back and then forward again, flicking his wrist and releasing, throwing it to him as was instructed. Iruka swallowed hard. His heart was beating at a fast pace now, quicker than was healthy—as compared from mere moments ago.

They were gambling more than they probably should have—that is, if they should have _at all_. But it _would_ work. It _had_ to.

The _fake_ scroll took only a moment to reach the ' _blond_ 's outstretched hand, and Iruka internally prayed to every single possible god, deity, higher power; whatever. If it bothered to listen, he hoped that it would have mercy.

Because if not… if the odds turned out of favor; then _almost_ everyone who was present during the Shinobi Council meeting may have very well, indirectly voted _in favor_ of his and Konohamaru Sarutobi's premature _death by explosive fuinjutsu_.

' _He shouldn't be able to tell the difference, as he has never seen the actual scroll…'_ this is what he had been told, and in theory; it proved to be concrete. It was unfathomable that he actually knew what the scroll _really_ contained. The thought gave him a large amount of confidence. A fair amount of relief flooded through him with the next few words that came from ' _Naruto_ 's mouth, as he proceeded to open the scroll.

"Well _thank you_ —" he paused, seemingly reading the contents of the scroll. The ' _boy_ ' hummed, then glanced up again. ' _Naruto_ ' rolled it up again, sighing while shaking his head in what appeared to be…

Disappointment…?

It was then that Iruka's eyes went dull in horror. His heart dropped like a stone in his chest as he watched a mocking grin grow on the ' _blond_ 's face. The plan. It didn't work.

"—But I wanted the _real_ one."

* * *

Konohamaru simply stayed quiet, accepting his inevitable fate, eyes shut… He stifled his sniffles, just letting the tears roll down his cheeks while curling harder into a ball and tucking his knees into his chest.

" _A real shinobi takes death with grace."_ he couldn't recall who told him those words… He thought maybe it was his father, but he couldn't remember. They loved each other as much as any father and son would, however he and his father didn't really talk very much.

" _You want to be a shinobi, Konohamaru-_ _ **chan**_ _?"_ This one sounded like his mother's voice. Yet he hadn't heard it in forever, so it was hard to tell.

" _Kaa-san! Stop calling me that!" the child complained pulling on his hair, to which the woman giggled at her son's antics._

" _Oh, I apologize, Konohamaru-_ _ **kun**_ _~!" she sung out, then leaned down to give him a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight~ I'll see you in a few days… Make sure to be good for your Uncle Asuma!" his mother told him._

 _He didn't want her to go, but they had already had a talk about this. "Ok… Love you too Kaa-san." Konohamaru went silent with those last words._

 _The woman smiled, and brought up his blanket so that it was covering up to his neck. "I love you too. Sleep tight…" and it seemed as if he heard only the rustling of leaves as she disappeared._

Her echoing voice faded from his mind, leaving only himself to his thoughts.

Was there an afterlife? Would he meet them when he died?

* * *

' _He knows… How does he know?'_ Iruka chanted repeatedly—frantically in his head, as if an answer would come to him. It didn't.

"W-what? What d-do you mean?" he stuttered out to the ' _boy_ ', attempting to play dumb. It was useless, and he knew it. ' _Naruto_ ' smirked.

"You thought I wouldn't _know_? That you—more specifically, the council—wouldn't try to pull something like _this_?" he pointed to the scroll in his hand. "I doubt _you_ came up with this, no, you're too much of a straight-laced good samaritan… However, for _adults_ , all of you sure are… naïve. All of you would fall for _anything_ , wouldn't you?"

Only a small part of Iruka's brain was wondering why the _demon child_ that he had only just met, was speaking to him with such… familiarity? The other 90% was in a state of desperate panic.

The ' _blond_ ' dropped the fake scroll to the grassy earth, bringing his hand up in half of a snake seal; ready to detonate the tags. "I've already given you too much leeway… So, unfortunately… It would seem that our deal is off."

"- **No! Konohamaru—** " Iruka hurriedly reached into his pants pocket and pulled out another object. A roll of parchment. " _ **Naruto**_ — **have the scroll here, look!** " he waved a much smaller scroll around, desperately. "Here! Take the scroll! He's innocent! If you want someone… then just kill me!" Iruka reasoned with the _demon child_ , raising his hand in a placating motion and moving forward.

' _Naruto_ ' stopped raising his other hand, playing contemplative. He tilted his head. "Hmm? Kill you…? And take the real scroll? What an offer…" the ' _boy_ ' looked to mull it over for but a few seconds. "Not a bad deal. Then again; I already gave you one chance…"

Iruka widened his eyes in realization. For the second time in the emotional rollercoaster that was this day, his heart rate took a dramatically hard increase. A sense of foreboding took over, and the crickets stopped in their loud chirping.

 _What was he going to do?_

The hat wearing ' _blond_ ' exhaled a over-dramatically fake sigh, and reached down for the sword. "I mean I _would_ accept… But I seriously just got the _best_ idea! I have two hostages now, including you—right?"

' _No… No, fuck!'_ Iruka cursed internally, and tightened his leg muscles, demanding himself to run forward. " **Wait, hold on!** "

"As _great_ as that is, though—I don't quite _need_ two…!" A manic grin grew on ' _Naruto_ 's face before he grabbed the sword with both hands, and lifted it into the air above Konohamaru. The last of the day's sunlight was caught by the sword, gleaming off the blade.

Iruka put all of his power—and will—into it as he went full tilt dashing forward. His sandals collided with the earth in furious repetition. "No! _**DON'T DO IT!**_ " he screamed, eyes fierce.

"-So no thank you!" as the words escaped his lips, the sword was already coming down, splitting the air; ready to cleave through Sarutobi Konohamaru's neck. Iruka broke into a dive towards them, consequences be damned.

That was, until the sword changed trajectory, swiveling in mid air.

" _Just kidding."_ the ' _blond_ ' breathed. ' _Naruto_ ' stepped past the Sarutobi child, changing the angle of his swing. He was now looking up to meet Iruka's eyes, the blade aimed toward its new incoming target.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **13 Days… Not too bad. Way better than a month. Also, you guys'll hopefully get plenty of Naruto PoV next chapter.**

 **Finally; if you have anything to say—good, bad, or in between (as long as it isn't accusing me of writing underage-pornography…? Wait… What…? When did I…? I DONT EVEN HAVE A NORMAL LEMON! That review has been since deleted.); then REVIEW!**


	13. Covering Distance

**Welp… Here you go?**

* * *

" _You shouldn't let your emotions rule your decisions, Hiruzen… The outcome would be a lot worse." Danzo chided. "The Second had entrusted this position to you given that you would be able to protect it, and make decisions that would benefit it."_

 _The tension in the room was palpable. Hiruzen tightened his jaw. "Danzo, what you're asking me to do is to… choose between my grandson… and a scroll."_

 _The man simply stared at the Sandaime. "Yes, but that was not my main point; I said that you should think above your personal feelings. I understand that, this is something you may struggle with, but the fact that you should remains true."_

" _Danzo…" Hiruzen nearly growled._

"… _Sandaime-sama, I must agree with Shimura-sama. I apologize, however his line of thought is most sensible." Hiashi stated, hands folded in front of himself. "I have no doubt that there are some others in this room that feel the same." his eyes darted to a few others, so fast that it was impossible to track, but Hiruzen could easily guess some of the few he was referring to._

 _It was impossible not to see the internal conflict, the betrayal, and borderline anger in the previous Hokage's eyes. It was to the point where many felt guilty, even if they stood rock solid by their firm agreement with Danzo's line of thinking. Even they–if they had children, or grandchildren, which most of them did–could feel the pain the Sandaime felt. Yet, the thing was that it was_ _ **his**_ _grandchild, not theirs._

" _Do you perhaps not trust the ANBU's competence in being able to counter the enemy, and complete the objective?" Danzo questioned, rhetoric as it was. "Do you hold that little faith in those who were–at one point–your own men?"_

 _Hiruzen flickered his fierce gaze over to the bandaged man. "You don't-"_

" _Men you as a Kage used to send to their deaths, despite knowing just how low the chances were that they would survive? How about those that you knew had no chance whatsoever?" the Sandaime could feel his throat dry, no longer bringing words, while Kakashi's hands started to shake against his will._

 _It was all too true, and Kakashi especially knew this. He had witnessed this. Seen it. Heard of it. Knew a few people who had never come back… During the Third war, this was even pretty common practice. He couldn't imagine what it was like during the Second one…_

 _Back then they more than likely the highly trained equivalent of_ _ **cannon fodder**_ _. Meant to complete assassinations and objectives, whether they came back or not. Finish the mission unseen, and escape; dead or alive…_

– _Or die to the enemy knowing that there was the possibility that you may have just_ _ **killed the thousands**_ _living in the village._

 _That was how it was; whether they knew it or not._

 _Even today during a time of relative peace, ANBU were sometimes sent on–what could be considered by outsiders–_ _ **suicide**_ _missions. For noble causes sure–preventing war, hunting and assassinating dangerous targets, etc–but most of the time, chances were if they didn't bring enough backup or have quite enough skill they_ _ **wouldn't**_ _come back from such missions. They would be lucky enough to have their body destroyed by comrades–had they not done it themselves with one of the several techniques they taught you–if this was the case; because they wouldn't get a proper burial, or rarely a even name the memorial stone._

 _When you became an ANBU, you went into the dark–you became a shadow of your former self, and while you could have a life outside of ANBU; that was undoubtedly your main priority until you died or resigned. Like he did._

 _However while all of this was semi-common knowledge amongst higher ranks in the undoubtedly_ _ **shinobi**_ _village, it made Kakashi flinch– the silver haired jonin wouldn't be surprised if the sheer amount of guilt was eating Hiruzen alive. Danzo talked about it like the Sandaime had much of a_ _ **choice**_ _._

 _Danzo continued. "Yes, while most shinobi–especially ANBU–have little to no family, some do–_ _ **did**_ _–and some aspired to be more. Some are–_ _ **were**_ _mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, children… And yet as Hokage, you did what was required of the job and assigned them to missions they would never come back from." He paused._

" _Why should your grandson hold more value than all of them in the grand scheme of things? Sure, he is still young, but why should he hold more importance than the almost-assured retrieval of Konohagakure no Sato's most dangerous and powerful techniques, and the Kyuubi itself?" Danzo inquired, while the Sandaime internally crumbled. Kakashi looked between the two elderly men, both unable to take either side or counter either argument without making himself feel like total scum._

" _All the people in this room could agree that if those got into the hands of our enemy, it may very well be the destruction of Konoha as we know it, correct?"_

 _He looked around the room, to which many nodded in agreement. It was the most likely result, and everyone understood that. Danzo brought his exposed eye back to the Sandaime._

" _Your grandson is in the academy, a shinobi in training, am I not mistaken?" It went unreplied, but the man already knew the answer, and everyone that had ever dealt with the man knew the next words that would come out of the pragmatist's mouth._

"… _It's an opinion that I'm not so sure many of you share-" He started, referring to the other council members around the long table "-but I believe that no m_ _atter how young, it would be his duty as a shinobi to sacrifice himself for the cause; for the well being and prosperity of Konohagakure, which he was named after. We live in a cruel and unforgiving world; you know that very well Hiruzen. Wanting to risk the entire village for one boy–your grandson or not–unfortunately is not an option."_

 _No one tried to argue this. Nothing needed to be said. There was nothing_ _ **logically**_ _wrong with what the bandaged council member was saying. The bandaged covered man glanced up to a clock in the room._

"… _Hm. It looks like we're nearly out of time to come to an agreement. Kame-bridge is nearly a half hour's travel away-" His words drew the rooms attention to the clock as well, while Danzo impassively glanced over towards Iruka. "-and I wouldn't doubt that it would take a Chunin slightly longer."_

 _Everyone watched as the man stared at Hiruzen, eyes as cold and as sharp as steel stabbing into the Sandaime. "It's not that I don't see that you care deeply for your grandson, but I would hope that you make the right final decision, Hiruzen. The one best for the village."_

 _Total silence ensued in the room. Danzo's words were a silent threat, that, both Kakashi and Hiruzen were certain of._

' _It's either you do it, or_ _ **I will**_ _.'_

* * *

 _ **Naruto**_

The knot came undone, and as soon as it hit the ground Naruto scrambled into a dead sprint towards the sound. Within the first several steps he took his subconscious made it clear to him that he was quite unprepared, with no other effective weapon available to him other than his chakra. _'Not much of an array to choose from…'_ He reminded also didn't help that he really didn't _know_ any stand alone techniques; all the kunai hardening practice, and trying to perfect that whole electricity charging thing was useless….

Naruto could feel his fingers twitch in harsh self-scolding. Maybe the pervy-toad had actually been on to something… Two years too late for him to realize this though.

By no means were they ideal conditions, but he would have to make do.

His sandals dug deep into the dirt driving him forward as fast as he could run with his arms dragging behind him, the numbed right one doing so because it was still immobile; having been the arm that had forced most of the uncontrolled chakra out, being his dominant. He dodged around large branches, over fallen trees, and avoided small sticks. He clenched his fist, bearing the stinging pain of the multiples—what must have been _hundreds_ —of thumb-tack sized, seared red electrical burns on the lower parts of both arms, and all over his hands.

Yet, those didn't matter. While he may have not held any real connection with the little kid whatsoever; he didn't deserve to die. Not when he could prevent it.

' _Come on, come on… Faster!'_ he chanted, above him the sky turning darker. Naruto's blood coursed through his veins like lightning, and his violet-blue eyes focused forward.

He could near instinctively tell that he was running on mere _seconds_. The clearing was close, just a stone's throw away… He could _see_ 'himself'–Mizuki, Konohamaru, and Iruka.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a bright glint caught his eye, forcing him to blink out the glare. It shocked his vision for but a fraction of a second, before they readjusted.

…Wait, what the hell was th–?

He felt his eyes narrow out of momentary confusion–trying to discern what was happening–before suddenly his legs faltered and his eyes widened dramatically.

"– _Oh sh-_!" he hadn't even the time to curse–as through the tree line, he witnessed his own sword split through the air, traveling as fast as the wielder's muscle could drive it.

The sword connected with the material of a flak jacket, undershirt, and the fishnet metal mesh underneath. It was almost like Naruto could feel each strand of the armor and cloth snapping; splitting… The wire frame of the jacket and the fishnet only served to reduce the cutting force of the blade by the slightest margin.

…Then it met _flesh_ … _Organic, living human flesh_.

 _ **~Squelch!**_

Mizuki grinned as the sword proceeded to continue on past the outer layers of Iruka's skin and carve it's way deep into the man's shoulder; through the muscle, and tendons, with a thick trail of blood following in its wake…

The fact that it completely countered Iruka's forward dive only added to just how far the blade was able to go.

The weapon only stopped over halfway through the limb, once it had wedged into what Naruto could only assume was _bone_ given the abrupt stop in motion.

It didn't take more than an instant for more warm, red blood to _explode_ outward from the wound and across the grass, onto a now open eyed, petrified still Sarutobi Konohamaru who of which Iruka kneeled in front of defensively.

Naruto, yet still shrouded under the darkness of the trees, couldn't quite make out the entire scene but his imagination filled in the gaps enough to make him grimace.

There was a brief silence; a delay, before the young man had even felt the fissure between his shoulder and the rest of his torso. Naruto's vision tracked to Iruka's blood dotted face, where said man's eyes both hazily wandered onto the steel embedded into his shoulder.

" _ **AAAAGHHHHH!**_ "

Naruto stood wide eyed, watching in horrid fascination…

In the dark recesses of his mind, a thought occurred that he couldn't help but take notice of, or rather realize;

 _That's what a blade is capable of…_

He had never actually seen what a sword could really do to a person… and it was… indescribable.

Mizuki let the sword stay buried deep into Umino Iruka's shoulder while the scarred chunin's scream continued until his voice cracked, then broke. As soon as it did the man's breathing went completely erratic, no longer equal parts inhale or exhale.

He was basically choking on air, as his brain was having trouble subconsciously regulating his lungs.

Naruto had trouble tearing his eyes away, yet he managed break himself of his stupor. He blinked away the sight, the images in his head, and recollecting himself. He needed to move… If he knew Mizuki at all… the man wouldn't be finished.

Only a stone's throw away was the edge of the clearing, he would soon cross it and break into the open–

Naruto's thoughts came to a halt. His mind settled on one word to sum up his predicament.

' _How?'_

Just _what_ would he _do_? What plan did he have? He was absolutely weaponless and there were so many things that could go _wrong_ ; he wasn't silent or invisible and Mizuki was just one hand seal and chakra flare away from blowing Konohamaru, and now Iruka, to pieces…

' _Stay cool. Stay focused. THINK.'_

* * *

 _ **Mizuki**_

The henged man scoffed, directed toward the sword. "-Piece of shit. Not even sharp enough… It didn't cut _all the way through_ …" he clicked his tongue, then lifted his foot in preparation of his next action.

"Oh well." With absolutely no remorse to his 'friend' he next proceeded to ram his sandaled foot into Iruka's head, sending him face-first into the dirt with another strident, strangled howl due to the vicious pain as Mizuki simultaneously ripped the sword out of Iruka's halfway split limb, spilling an even larger quantity of blood which contributed to the quickly growing puddle.

" _ **Gahhh!**_ "Iruka choked out." _ **Fu…ck…**_ "

The disguised rogue-nin then brought the sword to his side, letting it just hang and drip Iruka's vital fluid onto the grass. The henged Mizuki gave a short chuckle, staring at the scene with undeniably sick enjoyment of watching his had-been friend squirm on the ground. _'Neither are gonna survive this anyway… Why not give him some passing words, eh…?'_

"…Ya' know, I absolutely _hated_ you, Iruka. Still do; as you can probably see… But did you know that at one point I was actually jealous of you? _YOU!_ " he put his hand to his forehead, as if scolding himself.

"Pathetic, right…? All of our friends… they always liked _you_ more than _me_. You always got better grades, higher test scores; and when we made genin, a better team, and a better sensei… You even made chunin a year before I did–" Mizuki's voice started to become more almost feral-like, unnoticed to everyone present.

* * *

 _ **Iruka**_

Iruka's eyes bored into the dirt only centimeters away, mouth leaking blood from where he had forced himself to stop screaming. but evidently couldn't seem to move. He had been wounded multiple times in his life, but never to _this_ degree. It just hurt _too much_ …

The young man could feel the blood steadily pumping through the broken vessels and pathways, his chakra flowing out as well draining him of energy, and the ability to get a grip on reality. The pain was unbearable…

The words 'Naruto' was saying sounded drowned out, and what he could hear of it made no sense to him anyway. Jiberish.

Iruka clenched his teeth, letting his lungs depress as he felt them finally find a semblance of what could be called 'stabilization'. He could only clutch his shoulder in agony; trying to stem the bleeding as best he could.

He was starting to lose feeling in it–the muscles no longer felt as if they were actually 'attached'–and that was quickly becoming apparent to him.

' _Well… s-shit…'_

Would this kill him…? Would he meet Mizuki, and his family wherever they went after they died? With the amount of blood it felt as if he was losing, he wouldn't doubt it. Nor would he doubt that he wouldn't just be killed once the blond was done hacking him to quarters…

At least he gave Konohamaru a few more minutes of life… If that.

Was it even worth it though? He wasn't able to save the boy or take any revenge for his friend… And now he was essentially just _dead weight._ He failed his mission…

To be honest, he didn't know; didn't want to. However, he found a small amount of solace in the fact that it was his duty as a shinobi to serve and protect the citizens of Konohagakure, so he was only doing what was expected of him. If that meant trying to save someone and dying, then that was his duty and he was fine with that.

He didn't have much to live for after all, like many shinobi. That's why he decided to become a teacher in the first place. So he could do something with his near meaningless life… put his nearly useless skills to use somehow…

But that didn't last very long, did it?

' _Damn… it…'_ Iruka cursed in his head, as he felt the growing puddle of blood on the ground start to soak into his cloths and stain his face.

Iruka's eyesight became increasingly more blurry and he started to feel dizzy as he slowly lost consciousness. The sounds of the atmosphere around him were fading in and out from his range of sense–yet the words kept flowing into his ears.

More he just couldn't understand.

There was also something else… Questions that had been gnawing and eating at him ever since _Naruto_ started to threaten killing Konohamaru.

– _Where were the ANBU…? What happened to the plan…? Why hadn't they intervened yet…?_

There had been so many times that they could have. _He_ had been distracted so many times… And now he was having his arm cleaved off, and they hadn't done _anything…_

Were the Sandaime and Hatake Kakashi correct? Could there have actually have been more than just _him_? It would make sense…

Black spots started to consume his vision, and they only got only got larger in quantity with each passing second. He was losing so much blood… the sword must have cut into or through a major artery…

He tried to keep them open, he did… but he couldn't stop his eyelids from steadily closing…

* * *

 _ **Mizuki**_

"–it wasn't because you were the better shinobi, though; It was because–apparently–the _fucking_ 'will of fire' was stronger in you!" Mizuki growled. "Enough reason to graduate over actually combat talented shinobi, right?!"

He gripped the sword tighter.

"I mean… the whole thing sounds like a bad movie line–the whole 'will of fire' crap–yet bullshit aside, I played along as your friend all through those times… and I regret every single second of it… I should have just kicked you back into the dirt I found you in!" He lifted the sword and laid it on his shoulder, grinning ear to ear.

"But now… now I'm finally making you _suffer._ And you know me… Can't leave–"

The henged man cut himself off. "Wait."

Mizuki let out a grunt of annoyance, then proceeded to none-too-gently _stomp_ one foot on Iruka's back. Red tinted dribble escaped from his mouth, but Iruka didn't react any more than with a barely conscious heave. A small frown appeared on the henged Mizuki's face. He sighed.

"Son of a bitch…" he grumbled. "I can't have you going to _sleep just yet_!" Mizuki put his foot down on Iruka's injured shoulder, and ever so slightly pressed his weight onto it, until the point where he was basically standing on it…

The brown haired chunin's eyes instantly shot back open. " _ **Shh...Ahh!**_ "

Mizuki nodded, apparently satisfied. "There we go! Now, I want you listen, and listen _closely_ Iruka…!" The rogue pushed against the elbow again with each word, Iruka replying in kind with a ghastly croak. " _Stay! The hell! Awake!_ " with the last word, he downright rammed his foot onto the shoulder. " _ **GAH!**_ "

"There; are we clear?" He took his foot off the arm. Iruka barely managed to let out a breath in response. "…Ye… ah…"

"Great! So… moving on…" He brought the sword back above his head and nodded to himself. " _As I was saying_ ; can't leave job _unfinished_ after all, can I? And you know what they say, right?" The seemingly immortal sadistic grin reappeared on his face, as his eyes shone with an unrestrained thrill.

" _Second time's a charm!_ "

Mizuki was just about to bring the sword down, when he heard a whimper. One annoying whimper that he was getting quite irritated by.

"…No… S-Stop it…" The henged chunin's attention was drawn to Konohamaru, turning to him with narrowed eyes. The boy apparently just couldn't bear to hear or see it anymore, trying to block out the gruesome scene.

Instead of getting angry, Mizuki decided that it would be much for entertaining, watching the Sarutobi brat's heart sink further into the gutter. He turned his head towards Konohamaru, grin persistent.

"How about…" he paused, mockingly contemplative.

"…No."

Mizuki got exactly the response he was hoping for.

* * *

 _ **Naruto**_

Naruto's leg muscles had already jolted back to life, slinging him forward into a full sprint again. He was still so far, though. Despite his efforts he wouldn't make it. He _knew_ he wouldn't make it. He just wasn't fast enough to.

Over _60 yards_ away, henged Mizuki changed his stance, and the blond knew had little time to come up with plan…

' _Damnit, damnit, damnit,... come on!'_ His mind went into overdrive. What would he do? It brought his attention to the fact that he really had only _two choices_.

Try and save Iruka's arm, or _don't_.

In other words; _draw Mizuki's attention_ , or _don't._

Naruto grit his teeth, coming closer and closer to the edge of the clearing.

Logically thinking, was the arm actually _worth_ saving? Despite his morals screaming out to him ' _yes_ ', the other 70% just honestly could not see that course of action ending well. At all.

Simply put; if he did that–there was little doubt in his mind that they _would die_.

Not to mention, the chance that the arm could be saved wasn't particularly high at all. He would actually say that it was _really really low_ –that was, if his limited medical knowledge of that was anything to go by.

The wound looked extremely deep, anyone could tell that much. The only way he could see the arm being able to function again was if it were the Godaime herself healing it; as despite his lack of respect for the woman–not that he really respected anyone anyway–he would admit that she was one of the, or far more likely _the_ , best medic that Konohagakure no Sato had.

But that obviously wouldn't be the case. She wasn't even in the village, probably a few day's travel away, and it wasn't like there was anything that could suspend wounds in time or something of the like… Or at least, nothing he knew of. If there were though, he would know about it. If it existed, it would be a standard practice in hospitals for life threatening injuries… So no.

If he could save it, though… If he could… There was just that small chance–

 _ **[No.]**_

Like _hell_ he would.

It wasn't a sound decision. Being all optimistic and wanting to think that if he tried hard enough, he would succeed… Thinking that way would kill him. Too much optimism; bad.

This would be the _only_ chance he would have. If he had to full out fight against the man, he _would_ lose; and although he may not be killed–he would actually prefer that to the alternative…

Done and over. No second chance.

The fact was; he and Iruka weren't friends. Hell, they hardly knew each other. That didn't mean Iruka deserved to have his arm lopped off… but it would be a miracle if anyone could functionally actually reattach the man's arm; so why would he even risk trying to save it?

It wasn't out of malice, however bluntly stated–he _wouldn't_.

He refused to let their chance of survival go down the drain, for something that was obviously such a lost cause. Iruka's shinobi career be damned. He wouldn't let the sacrifice go in vain, though.

Naruto continued on as silent as possible, and immediately went about formulating a real plan.

It was obvious what he had to do. He _had_ to _kill_ Mizuki, or else there was the possibility that the silver haired man could detonate the explosive tags, with the chance that he would just outright kill the two manually not far behind it… That only left him the one option, unless he planned to try and face him in a fight; something already decided–

 _ **[Ineffective.]**_

He had almost lost the fight against the _clone_.The real one looked to be none the worse for wear either–unlike himself–and the man was an actual person, that could take _multiple_ hits.

So he would have to land a disabling–if not lethal–blow on him as soon as he possibly could, or else it would be seriously problematic for him. For an _assassination_ , the first blow was _paramount_. Common logic.

He had only technique–if it could even be called such he–that he might be able to consider semi-lethal; the same lightning thing he had used to escape the ropes. There was one problem with that though, and that was that he would have to increase the power a _ton_ if he planned on it actually using it for burning/piercing into a human body at a fast enough rate that Mizuki couldn't just throw him off…

If he was correct, were he to do that, it would make _a lot_ more noise. Mizuki would hear him as soon as he tried to perform it, and again–

 _ **[Dead end.]**_

So– Naruto grimaced…

If ever he _wished_ to hear someone just _scream their vocal chords out_ , it would be then.

He absolutely _needed_ that distraction, that _cover_.

However it would not be overlooked that Mizuki was a _shinobi._ Not a very good one, and not the sharpest tool in the shed–as from his methods, it seemed; there would have been a few, much more effective ways of going about this goal of his. But he was a shinobi nonetheless. The traitor had to have made it to chunin _somehow_ , as practical skill–especially _paying attention_ –was certainly a requirement.

He would have to get to Mizuki before the man would even know what's happening.

It only took an instant of visualizing, before Naruto reached down and swiped one of the several thick sticks from the forest ground that he had previously been avoiding. With his next step, he turned and started to arc around the clearing so that he was more to Mizuki's back, before he broke the treeline.

Just as the sword began it's swift journey down yet again…

Still in forward motion, Naruto's legs tensed before he suddenly spun in a full circle, salvaging and then using as much of his strength as he could spare before launching the stick full force toward Mizuki. Following directly afterwards, he started building a charge in his left hand, starting with a low, waning noise, and gaining volume with each step he took towards his target.

The sword met flesh as soon as the stick was released. No delay this time. Iruka's receptors were already prepared for it. Unfortunately for the man, that didn't lessen the excruciating pain by even the slightest bit.

" _ **AAAAGHHHHHH!**_ "

Another torturous wail pierced through trees, although much shorter this time. Naruto couldn't help but flinch internally at the sound, guilty as he was borderline thankful, as his left hand started to spark rapidly with the lightning and forming a quickly growing crackling noise; almost screeching and _just barely_ concealed by the scream.

Naruto despite how much he tried to block out the sound, he couldn't quite do the same with the sight.

This time as expected, the sword totally—and with such ease, it was almost like watching a _trained butcher_ —cleaved through the last of the bone in its path. Or maybe the alternative; the possibility that it simply fractured and the sword just pulled pieces out. Naruto didn't _want to know,_ attempting as much as he could to numb his mind of the image.

Thankfully the agonizing sting racing up his left arm helped keep his thoughts off of it. He could already feel the scars being formed, racing up to his own shoulder and the electricity grazing his side. It danced along his ribs, through his body, shocking his organs… but Naruto refused to fall.

The sword stopped moving and Iruka's left arm was rended entirely _split off_ from his body–just above the rib cage–instantly gushing blood at the stump of what used to be there. The young man's eyes began to roll back in his head, going delirious from the pain, and the scream died out as Iruka lost consciousness. In that same moment in time, the branch reached its target. Mizuki's, who had just finished his swing, barely got a chance to turn his head to the now loud and violent crackling screech, and brightening electricity coming from behind him.

"What-!?" _ **~Shhk-Thud!**_

" _FUCK_ …!" Mizuki suddenly lost sight in his eye as something hard, rigid, and sharp impacted his face. Smoke exploded outward around him, engulfing his form. The physical brown fur hat was knocked off his head, while the sheer surprise forced the sword from the now henge-less Mizuki's hand, making him drop it into the pooling blood as the man tumbled by Iruka and Konohamaru; the non-unconscious of which's attention being immediately turned to the figure quickly closing the distance towards Mizuki.

Naruto put all of his might into speeding up his forward momentum, to the point where his feet ached and felt jarred, as if he had just spent the last hour stomping on solid rock. The crackling coming from his hand now near ear deafening, and only got even _louder_ while the electricitygoteven _brighter_.

He couldn't hear his own thoughts–if there were any–but he could feel the chakra being poured from his system, draining like air from a balloon with a pin hole. At this point he wasn't even trying to control it at all.

The boy was already at 30 yards, getting closer with each quick passing moment and step.

20 yards. Mizuki impacted the ground, clutching his eye. Naruto noticed the blood leaking from underneath the man's hand. He really couldn't have asked for a better hit.

10 yards. Mizuki began to roll over back to his feet. Naruto could feel his chakra start to lose out on its intensity. It no longer flowed from his system normally. He didn't have much left…

Mizuki was now standing up, staring furiously at him. "- _YOU_ -?!" He began to position his arms in an attempt to deflect the technique.

But by the time the words escaped the man's mouth, Naruto had was already right in front of him, his violet-blue eyes glaring forward at the silver haired rouge.

"Too…–late!"

The blond had already realized there was no way he would be be able to get a lethal stab to the throat or chest, so thinking quickly he feinted, instead intentionally mistiming his final step and dropping his arm in an effort to throw off Mizuki.

It _worked_ –and it worked _well_.

The man's sloppy–although still very much strong–attempt at a deflection _completely missed_ , as Naruto had planned. It gave the blond the perfect opportunity to catch himself, as he did, before he continued to thrust his violently shaking, electrically charged technique upwards.

Directly into the gut of Namika Mizuki.

"Like I told… the clone. Fuck… you!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I admit; yes, this chapter–if you were to look at the grand 'picture'–was quite literally Naruto crossing from where he had fought the clone, to where he was right in front of Mizuki, jabbing a bastardized chidori into his midsection… (Can't forget Iruka though… Poor guy had his arm sliced off.)**

 **I'm not going to lie when I say, what you just read has been basically done for about–what I'd like to say–the better part of 2 weeks now. I should have posted it earlier, however I really didn't want this part of the arc to drag on for another chapter; my plan being to just put out a 10,000 word chapter finishing this part, and then moving on to the second part… (Or third part? I don't even know.)**

 **That is what would have happened given I could actually produce writable ideas, could more easily include good detail, and had the mental strength to keep writing continuously when I'm in good spirits, as opposed to just going and watching Youtube.**

 **Now, I do have most of what would now be considered 'chapter 14', done. Around 70%...**

 **But I don't like it… I** _ **really**_ **don't like it. The writing just feels dull, and forced, and it just isn't something I would like to put out. While yes, if I were to finish it how it is, it would carry the story fine… Yet I don't want it to just 'carry the story'... I want it to** _ **flow.**_ **It feels so rigid though.**

 **I actually rewrote, and edited everything about this chapter so much, it's to the point where almost every time I would load it up, I would just edit it. And edit it. And** _ **edit it.**_

 **Then I would get an idea, and want to redo it all. The majority of the time, I** _ **would**_ **. This chapter is almost what I'd consider a compromise to** _ **myself**_ **–although to it's credit it was good enough that it was postable.**

 **However, I'm going to stop right there. I'm entirely sure I've said this before, so you guys don't need to hear it again.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter though! Good day/night to you all!**


	14. Deadly Juinjutsu

**All done!**

 **Gained my steam back a bit with this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it. I pretty much rewrote this thing, so I'm surprised I got it done so fast (In comparison to the others–but half a month is better than a full month, right?).**

 **Not exactly (Read; basically not at all) sure what I'll do with the next few, but that's for me to worry about and you find out… I was planning on some seriously heavy stuff, and while a lot of it still may come through, there will probably be some 'Tension Relief'. I wasn't planning on this whole sequence to last so long, but I think it was worth it.**

 **Probably graduation in a few chapters though–yes, another time skip, but there's really not much else to put in between–so we can get into some real character advancement, missions, and character relationships being built.**

 **Finally, thank you everyone for reading! (As of writing this) Nearly 15,000 Views so far, 161 Follows, and 104 Favs!**

 **On to the chapter!**

* * *

 _ **~4 years ago**_

 _A small blond looked around nervously as he stepped through the gate and onto the academy grounds. His violet eyes scanned around the area, seeing multiple other children his age–most with parents, unlike himself._

 _{So many… people…} Naruto thought to himself, fidgeting with his hat and pulling it downwards in attempt to hide his face with the brim and it's shadow._

 _The first year of primary academy._

 _No, it wasn't the_ _ **shinobi**_ _academy–though technically, that was just a walk to the other side of the building away–but this was where he would learn how to do things like math and stuff. Or how to read some of the longer words. And some historical things…_

 _But… he would have a real teacher, and have to talk to people–_

 _Naruto shook his head quickly. {Stay cool… You'll do fine… You'll be fine… Everyone will probably just ignore you, like they usually do…}_

 _He skirted along the outside of the crowd of adults and other children, heading for the dark, secluded tree over by the fence. Every few moments, he would glance over to the side, watching the numerous people._

 _There must have been over 60 other kids, some of the more sociable of them talking, teasing each other, forming little groups… And those who were more shy talked with their family/guardian, who tried to reassure them, to varying results._

 _Naruto felt several eyes on him as he walked, despite how much he tried to avoid their sights. Words; conversations between parents he could hear… he brushed them off, but they only made him feel less like he belonged here. Like he should still be at home, absorbed in some of the few things he did to entertain himself in his ever persisting boredom. Like reading, or even just sleeping…_

 _Sleeping was nice. When he was asleep, he didn't have eyes constantly tracking him, or people nervously avoiding him like a plague victim. That never stopped them from talking about him though. Circling him with comments as if he weren't there listening._

" _What… is_ _ **he**_ _doing here…?"  
_ " _Who? What are you–? Oh… Shit…"  
_ " _You would think the Hokage would have the courtesy to keep_ _ **him**_ _away from the children…"  
_ " _Yeah."_

" _I'm actually tempted to just try and teach my daughter at home, especially if_ _ **he**_ _ends up in her class…"  
_ " _Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine. I bet_ _ **he'll**_ _drop out after a while–I doubt_ _ **he's**_ _smart enough to keep up with the rest. If_ _ **he**_ _gets out of hand, I'm pretty sure the teachers will do something about it… I mean, I'm sure the Hokage wouldn't be that insistent on giving_ _ **him**_ _an education that he would put all of the kids in danger…"_

 _They made him feel unsettled and the comments always confused him._

 _Naruto scratched his arm, before taking a seat at the base of the tree. He pulled his knees to his chest and folded his arms around them as he listened. Eventually, many of the children started doing the same as their parents, taking notice of him as well._

" _Hey dad? Who's that… why's he over there alone?"  
_ " _Son… Don't worry about it. Just; don't get too close to_ _ **him**_ _."  
_ " _But–"  
_ " _You heard me… I'll tell you once you get home later."_

" _Wow. Isn't that–?"  
_ " _Remember what I said. You are not to talk to_ _ **him**_ _, don't say_ _ **his**_ _name, and don't bring the subject up with anyone else. Tell your little sister what I told you when she comes back from talking with Yumi."_

 _Naruto lifted his gaze from the ants next to him when a loud voice called out._

" _Hello everyone! I'm Namika Mizuki! I'll be the one in charge of guiding all the kiddies to their classrooms! All the parents, do make their way over to the fence please; and don't talk!" a voice droned to everyone on the academy grounds._

 _A voice Naruto would come to hate._

* * *

He wasn't left handed, and as such it was hard for him to direct for better accuracy. Nonetheless Naruto's burning hand pierced into Mizuki's midsection with little in the way of stopping it, driving it as hard as he could. The blisteringly hot lightning allowed the appendage to guide seamlessly through his enemy, searing flesh, shocking organs, and electrifying the man's bloodstream.

" _ **AGH!**_ "

He was no longer actually tell that he–for a fact– _had_ a left hand, except for the pain he felt, yet the boy only kept pushing it in further to the point where he actually pushed into the back of Mizuki's ribcage; to which the lightning promptly _ate_ through. All of the damage resulted in blood exploding from the chunin's mouth, having found another exit route. Even more of the same red substance poured outward from the wound though, drenching Naruto arm in it as it escaped the man's body.

Konohamaru's expression flashed through several emotions–mostly of total confusion. He was still trying to comprehend just what was taking place in front of him.

Naruto yanked his limp and bloody hand back, the electrical charge running out at the same time as his chakra reserves did. That lightning technique drained an _insane_ amount of chakra and he hadn't expected it in the _slightest_.

However that was to be expected by an uncontrolled output, and Naruto _really_ felt it. To the point where is nearly had his body shutting down due to the effects of putting his system through such a depletion so quickly.

For but a mere second, a striking, burning pain shot through his chest, and it nearly took him off of his feet combined with the wave of intense nausea that crashed into him. This happened along with a range of other effects, such as his vision going slightly blurred, being unable to breathe…

 _{Chakra… deprivation…}_ He realized, having never actually felt it before however knowing exactly what it was just by the _dry_ feeling spreading through his body. He was out of chakra.

 _{Screw… that…!}_ Naruto stomped down his foot hard, and pushed through it, refusing to let his assault stop there. A heat shot through his body.

 _Shinobi Rule; there is no such thing as 'Overkill'._

The boy pulled his leg up and brutally drove his foot into the same spot, making his form curl. With one final move, he kneed the man in the right temple, right above the eye he had taken out.

There were no signs of life as Mizuki's head touched the ground first, following the rest of his form after the devastating attack. He simply fell, crumpled. The man landed with but a heavy thud. There was no breathing from him. No twitching.

Still shaky, Naruto stared at the man, unblinking as he stepped away.

The blood and adrenaline slowly faded from his system. The blood pounding in his ears was no longer as audible, and he could hear the crickets resuming their song; could feel the light breeze on his stained skin.

 _{Dead…}_ He had done it… it had _worked_. The plan had so many holes, it was basically a pincushion; but no one could survive a lightning covered hand through their torso.

A familiar voice caught his attention, but the owner of said voice did not drag his eyes blank stare away at the body.

"Is… he dead…?" Konohamaru's waveringly asked. Naruto released a light lungful of air, staying silent. Silence was the best answer. It seemed to bring the blond boy back to his own thoughts though.

He had just killed another person. The 3rd person… However, unlike the other two, this one, he could actually remember doing clearly.

Seven. Eight. Nine seconds. Ten seconds ago he had killed a village traitor. A rouge shinobi. Someone he had _known_ for multiple years, been in the same room with more times than he could count, and disliked more than almost anyone else in the Leaf.

 _Namika Mizuki._

Naruto stared at him for several more seconds, only breaking the gaze when he glanced down and grimaced at the results of the lightning on his own body.

This one had much more _heat_ than _electricity._ Denser. It held more raw chakra.

Unlike his right, which he had basically just fried the nerves and stunned it; his left was an entirely different story. He could barely move his the hand any longer; and it throbbed _so bad_ , having been covered in third degree burns. In some places they were so deep into his flesh, he was surprised he couldn't see bone… _Nevermind._

It didn't come as a surprise that it _hurt like_ –

 _ **[Irrelevant.]**_

Naruto shook his head. Right. He would heal, so that wasn't the issue at hand. Mizuki was down; he had to get to Iruka and cover the wound before he bled out. At least to keep him alive until _someone could get here._

Where were the Jounin? Where was the Sandaime? Where were the ANBU? Surely they sent more than just Iruka, right?

 _Of course_ , someone would be here soon. He sure sure as hell couldn't carry Iruka back to the village, even with Konohamaru–who although looked _quite unsettled_ , and just as spotted in red as he was, seemed to be _functionally_ fine–trying to help him. Not to mention the man would most likely die before then… If he remembered correctly, the forest of death was almost an hour long _run_ away from the village _._ That would take _hours_ carrying so much weight walking the entire way.

All he could do was wait. Naruto turned and quickly began to move toward Iruka.

" _Y-you…?!"_ That wasn't Konohamaru.

 _{What… the…?}_ Naruto's head immediately jerked to the source of the noise and without delay he doubled back, on full guard.

He and Konohamaru stared in shock as the man that had previously been motionless, dead on the ground was looking at the blond–very much _alive–_ struggling to form words, however glaring with all of the rage he could muster.

 _How was he still alive?!_

" _H-ow.. d-... did… y-you… escape!?_ " the silver haired chunin started, snarling while blood leaked from his mouth. The words tapered off and his eyes suddenly dilate. Black markings began to spread across his skin, veins of ink moving across his body from his neck, and his complexion started to turn a shade of red-ish pink.

Alarmed, Naruto's mind went back to chaos. What were with those lines? Was that ink? A seal? What was it doing?

" _Little… demon fucker… thinks he can kill me…Huh?_ " Mizuki whispered, beginning to move, picking himself up off the blood stained grass.

 _ **[Rapid recovery.]**_ The blond widened his eyes in disbelief." _No…_ "

When he looked closer; Mizuki did seem to be… _healing_ …

The blond could see the muscle and tissue mending itself back together in front of his eyes, and even though a lot of blood was still seeping through the repairing wound, the amount was lessening more by the moment.

Naruto stared, horror struck. He was _healing?_

He had put so much into that attack, his chakra and strength, but it was being _negated_. His only advantage had just been nullified–all of the damage he was able to cause because of it…

It was just being _healed._

Worse yet, if this had the implications he thought it did, even though most of his muscles felt fine, the chakra exhaustion was taking its toll on him **(1)**. The fiery heat spreading through him was alleviating it _slightly_ but, the trickle just sustaining him wasn't enough. He wouldn't be able to fight with his chakra, and one thing he knew;

This fight _wasn't over_.

"WATCH OUT!" he heard Konohamaru scream, and that was what set everything into motion once more.

 _{Move–!}_ In a heartbeat, Naruto made the split second decision to try and make space between him and Mizuki. He never made it past the first lift of his leg.

"I'M NOT… _DEAD_ _YET!_ " the man suddenly shouted and the boy wasn't given time to react as the rouge chunin moved _way faster_ than he should have been able to given the debilitating and near _fatal_ wound he had received.

With just two steps, Mizuki was up and right in front of him.

" **Khh-!** "

Before Naruto was able to understand what was happening, he suddenly found himself in a familiar state; one that he had been in only minutes ago–like clone, like real.

Unable to move, choking for air, as he was lifted from the ground due to Mizuki clutching his neck. " _ **Ughh–!**_ "

The man's feet moved along with the world around him, before he let go and the blond was rammed into the earth, under the force near equivalent to that of a Taijutsu Master.

Konohamaru could only watch in fear for the blond, who seemed to be the one on their side. "NO!"

Naruto's head rattled, visualized world exploding into color. Because of the angle, he rolled a short distance before coming to a halt, coughing while he lay in pain. Heaving, trying to regain air, he was finally catching his breath as his eyes drifted around in their sockets trying to clear the violently flashing colors and the spinning, phasing shapes.

His brain felt like mush, skull pounding and his body even more so. Everything _hurt_. His spine felt like jelly, as if someone had just thrown him through a concrete wall, and to top it off–like he had been rammed head first into that same wall again. The world seemed as if was tilting, spinning around him, and with the dull pain in his stomach, he wanted to puke.

The boy's eyes came back to focus and he looked up at Mizuki, who started saying something but it took a few words for him to finally start understanding what the man was saying, but they weren't even what he paid mind to.

 _How was Mizuki able to survive that?! Let alone be able to move so fast, and be able to pick him up; with a hand sized hole in his center?!_

How did that make any sense–? _{ …The markings?}_

That seal…?His vision traced the writhing lines moving all over the man's body. They _had_ to be the reason. The way it moved, and flexed, and _squirmed_ ; it somehow looked _alive_. Somehow, it was giving him _strength_ …

"Agh!–You know, that _hurt_ damnit!"Mizuki groaned, looking at him as he clutched his wound which had reopened again due to the stress of moving so quickly so suddenly as he had–though mending itself again. "Ugh–I thought an earth clone would be enough to keep a _academy student_ at bay! Fucking useless…"

 _But what was the seal doing to his body?_ His skin was still turning darker red, and his eyes didn't seem to be regaining their natural color, only turning a darker tint of red. He could even see the man's eyes starting to leak tears, as a bodily reflex of some sort.

 _{Get… up…}_

"I should have expected it, though, huh?! Really, how stupid could I be?! You aren't a _normal_ academy student,after all… Heheh… _Hahahaha!_ " Mizuki actually _laughed,_ ignoring what was happening to his body; his eyes becoming increasingly redder and the blood spilling from his mouth with each vocal movement made, dripping from his chin and further soaking into the soiled ground.

His manic laughter died out into a sort of coughing fit; resulting in more blood splattering out to the grass. Mizuki's expression morphed into an annoyed scowl. "–Well _shit!_ My blood is all over the ground, isn't it?! There goes the whole false trail… _**FUCK!**_ " he cursed.

"Well… Orochimaru-sama isn't gonna be happy…" Mizuki growled. "Guess that's my punishment, though, for taking my _sweet time_ …"

Naruto grit his teeth, keeping faced toward his former 'teacher'. However out of the corner of his eye he could see Iruka; the man was losing far too much blood to be safe. Even with the dimming sky overhead, he could see the man's skin becoming paler. He was running out of time…

Mizuki's scowl slowly started to form into a smirk. "I'd say it was worth it though…" he glanced behind himself at the unconscious Iruka before returning his full attention to the blond.

 _{Get up!}_

Naruto let out a grunt of pain, as he tumbled over to his backside. The boy tried to move his arm to lift himself up, but found that the strength he had in his elbow joint was slightly inadequate for pushing himself up.

" _Wow_. You look so goddamn _**pathetic**_ , you know that?!" the silver haired chunin shouted. "I gotta wonder why you're even trying? You look like _shit_ , and you're so outclassed right now, it's _hilarious_. I'm really amazed you even managed to get past my clone!"

The violet eyed boy glared to the grass, letting out a hiss of exertion and pain as he dug his right shoulder into the ground and pulled his knees under himself, until he could himself into a 3 limbed kneel with his elbow to the grass. Licking the blood from his own mouth, he spit it to the ground.

"I had expected more from the Kyuubi's reincarnation… Oh well." Mizuki clicked his tongue, and started taking slow steps toward Naruto.

"You know, all the people in _Konoha_ … They don't see what _I SEE_ …" he gestured from his eyes, outward. The black markings now covered the entirety of his body, as could be assumed because they stopped moving at his feet, now just pulsing.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, and the boy swallowed, easing his dry throat, before speaking. "And… what's that supposed to mean…?" he lifted his head.

" _I see it…_ and I'd actually like to think it was in small part thanks to _you_." he grinned, pointing. The rouge coughed a bit, then chuckled. "You were the _proof_." he stated.

 _{The 'proof'?}_ Was he supposed to understand that?

Naruto lifted his right leg and put his foot down, now in a proper kneel, one leg on the ground and one upright, arms hanging to either side. Sweaty blond hair shadowed his face even more in the approaching darkness. Naruto locked his eyes directly to the man's own.

"What… 'proof'? What's your point?"

Mizuki let out an amused exhale, before going slightly more serious. "Simply put; that village… they are so fucking spineless. Just full of worthless. No one seems to see that, like I do now. It took a few years, and some thought, but Orochimaru-sama really just laid it out. He summed it up in a way that just painted the picture. You wanna know what he asked me…?" he taunted.

"Why would everyone be so _scared_ of _you_ , if _you're_ so _weak_?"

Naruto bit his tongue. If he were to be completely honest; he couldn't really refute that reasoning. Of course, it was _understandable_ why most people tended to be more than apprehensive of him. That didn't mean it held logic. The only reasoning he could ever come up with was that the overwhelming paranoia must have just been ingrained into their minds so much that it was hard–or rather, _nearly impossible_ –to let go of.

Was that really his problem though? Naruto doubted it. No, that was just–

"So why would I serve a village like that? My potential is _wasted_ here, defending weak _bitches_ … teaching shit brained brats… doing boring ass gate duty… Especially when it's chocked full of old geezers making the decisions. _Limiting me._ "

–An excuse. He was _power hungry_. And he was grabbing whatever he could get, from whoever he could get it from.

Naruto grew mildly confused as soon as blood started to leak from Mizuki's ears. Why? The man didn't even seem to notice, just like all of his previous malfunctions.

 _{Why, though…?}_ If he was healing, why were his _ears_ bleeding? It would make sense that his stomach or whatever was still bleeding–he had just _fried his insides_ ; maybe it didn't fully heal, so explaining the excess coming from his mouth?–but why from his _ears?_

That was before his nose started doing the same.

"Now, my power is growing, and it's come to the point where it's too _**weak for me!**_ "

Mizuki pointed with his thumb to his neck, his grin now nearing insane levels, as his eyes started going glassy. "You know this seal?! Orochimaru-sama gave it to me… He saw my potential to exceed, and gave me this power… It makes me feel so… _**invincible!**_ _"_

With those words, it all clicked and Naruto came to an understanding as he observed the man. It was becoming quite obvious that there was something quite wrong with him… Whatever was happening inside of him, it obviously wasn't natural; and it _certainly_ wasn't even remotely 'bodily safe'.

No, this was most definitely _deadly_ , maybe even _fatal_.

"–For once, I'm _**powerful!**_ "

It was the seal. There was no doubt in his mind, that it was the seal. It had side effects; _massive_ side effects. It was utterly _destroying_ his body.

"–For once, I'm not bound to _**weakness!**_ "

 _The red tinge to his skin. That was due to his blood burning into it…_

"And although… _Orochimaru-sama_ … said that I could… have you after… he's done…" his skin started to _steam_ , becoming an even darker shade of red, and his breathing became noticeably heavier; louder. Like a dog's.

" _ **Except**_ … I've already… _**d-decided**_ …"

 _The steam… that was his body's fluid evaporating off…_

"–You've… p-pissed me off _…_ _ **so much**_ _…_ "

 _The same seal that had been healing him… was boiling him from the inside out…_

" **Why** not **just…** _ **KILL**_ _you_ _ **NOW**_ **?!** Why _…_ _ **WAIT?!**_ "

It quickly became apparent that the man's body seemed to be in a state of rapid necrosis, with his flesh starting to slowly peel away revealing small bits of muscle and other tissue. It was a grisly sight, yet although wanting to, Naruto didn't avert his eyes.

If Mizuki had kept any of the strength he had, even into this state, he was in trouble. Though he didn't need a close up to tell that he was verging on death; and death was reaching it's hand out for him as well, in return.

However, right now, he was still alive.

Naruto winced, his sight snapping to Mizuki's hand as it lowered to the side on muscle memory, reaching for the man's supply pouch, and gripping a Kunai.

" _ **SO…**_ _I'm_ _ **g-gonna…**_ _ **K-KILL YOU…!**_ _ **I'm**_ _going…_ _ **t-to**_ _ **KILL YOU…!**_ "

Mizuki lunged.

Naruto was ready for this, springing his legs in order for him to go into a dive backward. Mizuki's first swipe went through the air right in front of him, and the blond felt the movement of air on his face from the force behind the Kunai.

 _{–Way too close…}_

Apparently so much power was put into the swing that the man was actually put off balance, as he stumbled to the side, before turning back. Naruto took the opportunity and got to his feet as fast as he could without use of his hands. Dexterity was valuable as a shinobi. Luckily, he had it in spades–even in spite of lack of use in his wrists and hands.

The man started laughing again, crazed and–what sounded more correct– _broken_. Naruto could hear the silver haired chunin's voice dying out with each noise he made. Cracking.

" _ **I'm going**_ _to…_ _ **gonna K-KILL y**_ _ou…!_ _ **K-Kill**_ _you…!_ " he repeated, over and over. Naruto was already beginning to back up, prepared to jet to either side.

 _What was that seal doing to him?_

As Mizuki moved, small pieces of skin started to _flake off_. The blond could only _imagine_ what it was doing to the _rest of his body_ ; his brain for one, and other major organs such as his heart and lungs.

While Naruto held absolutely _no sympathy_ for Mizuki, he couldn't possibly imagine the man was willingly doing _this_ to himself _knowing_ the _very apparent_ side-effects of whatever that seal's purpose was.

" **S-SO STAY…** _ **S-STILL!**_ "

Naruto steadied himself, and Mizuki threw himself forward in a vicious flurry of hands and sharpened steel blade.

 _ **Thrust. Swipe. Stab. Slice.**_

The blond dipped and rolled just barely on balance as he just avoided the next strike. " **JUST… ONE…!** " the boy heard the man cough out.

The delirious silver haired chunin bolted forward again, steel ready to gash Naruto's neck open at the slightest mistake. He clipped his cheek with the Kunai, but the boy–due to his size–kept managing to avoid the worst of the damage.

The problem was; Naruto was getting tired. Even though the man's legs would falter every now and then, he would just lunge ever further to make up for it–leaving Naruto little room to escape without nearly having his jugular cut. Sometimes Mizuki would just forgo standing at all and use all fours to come at him, which made him even harder to dodge.

Nearly any opportunity he had to counter was swiftly denied every time the man moved. He was too fast. Like trying to fight against 3 people at once in Taijutsu. His only saving grace was that Mizuki's attacks were predictable.

However, that didn't mean there were _none_. Eventually, Mizuki _did_ give ground.

 _{Opening!}_ The silver haired chunin extended too far, sending him off course again. Naruto ducked and ran his shoulder right into his side; delivering as much damage as he could with so little space and preparation. A hand grabbed his shirt, but the cloth tore when it tried to pull him off. Undeterred Mizuki used his knee and impacted Naruto right in the chest. It nearly caved, and hurt like _hell_.

" _ **H-HAH…! G-GOT…**_ _you!_ "

However, just like all attempts to stop him before, the violet-blue eyed boy _refused_ to go down. Engulfing heat started to flood through his muscles, bones, and organs. The first thing he would have known about this was that his vision became slightly discolored, but there wasn't the first worry about that from him.

A stab next came down, trying to finish the job–like _hell_ would the blond let it end like that.

Naruto's instincts flared and his right hand twitched, as he used his elbow to counter the bloody, peeling arm; before he caught in his mouth mid swing, biting as hard as he could and ripping.

The blond tasted the nauseatingly foul coppery-iron blood; it only acted as encouragement for him to keep going, tearing through all the blood vessels in the wrist he could. He let the vile liquid fall out of his mouth, again ramming his shoulder into Mizuki's stomach, this time making him drop the Kunai.

 _{Go_ _ **down already!**_ _}_ The blond internally shouted. Yet Mizuki barely budged, much to Naruto's growing despair. The boy felt a hand grip his hair, yanking painfully hard.

" _Get…_ _ **off…!**_ " Mizuki choked out, throwing Naruto off of him. The silver haired rouge next thrust his foot straight forward. Right into the boy.

"Gah!"Naruto internally cursed as pain exploded in his stomach, and as he went tumbling with the kick. While he could tell it wasn't nearly as powerful this time, the man still kicked like a mule. The boy reached out his right hand–which he just realized he could now move–and put it below to steadied himself out, only to feel something his throat convulse as he spit up a small trickle of blood diluted stomach acid.

" _ **Not… y-**_ _yet…"_ Mizuki started to stumble to him, going to finish the job and capitalize on his state. Naruto looked up and watched as he started to trip, but the man loosely threw a leg forward to catch himself. With a few more steps, the man's muscles just stopped moving in coordination all together and gave out. He toppled, dropping the Kunai, and hitting the ground.

Naruto put his foot to the earth, ready launch himself forward for a strike while the man was seemingly down; before he could get back up again.

However, the boy didn't move.

" _No…?!"_ Mizuki squirmed around, and started to claw desperately at the ground, curling into the fetal position. " _No…!_ _ **I'M P-POWERFUL**_ _enough…! You… bastard! Stop…!"_

 _{What the hell…?}_ Naruto sat shock still, witnessing what was happening before his eyes, still in position to run forward.

The rouge's hair started the fall off his head, while skin peeling started to quicken, now seemingly drying up just as quickly and breaking off and revealing the also dried muscle below and even some of his bones.

His body was slowly just becoming a breathing, husk. The words he had been saying slowly became more choppy and slurred. He kept feebly scratching more at the grass.

" _N-no, no!_ _ **S-stop**_ _… please…! F-forgive me… Orochimaru-sama! I was… just kidding…! P-PLEASE…! I'LL… B-BRING YOU THE… B-BOY…! It…_ _ **h-hurts!**_ _Please… s-st–!"_ Blood explosively erupted from his mouth, cutting off his begging. Mizuki retched, filling the clearing with sounds of choking.

Naruto looked on in disgust at the… _man_ … completely devoid of words. He did nothing more than stare, fixed to the scene.

"Stop… Stop… Stop! _STOP!_ _**STOP–!**_ " Mizuki exploded into a fit of strained screaming; like that of a bad, paranoid, drug addict seeing visions. Naruto flinched with each ghastly noise. He tensed in anticipation at every sudden outburst. Eventually his begging died off, and it got quiet.

Naruto honestly felt _sick_. The gruesome scene becoming worse with each passing moment.

" _ **STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!**_ " Mizuki's screams elevated once more. The blond could feel his foot twitch, pressing hard into the grass and readying to move. But for nothing. Every syllable sent his nerves firing off.

Mizuki didn't show any signs of getting up whatsoever. Realizing this, Naruto lifted himself off the ground and hesitantly tore his gaze away from Mizuki. He glanced over to Konohamaru, who was in return looking at both him and–who his eyes were more focused on–' _Mizuki_ '. He could practically feel the boy shaking with every cacophonic sound that came out of the man's mouth.

He looked back to the 'body' on the ground, still twitching and screaming. Mizuki's glassy eyes roll around in his skull. " _ **P-PLEASE! M-MAKE… IT S-STOP!**_ "

Naruto's fingers dug into his palm. That horrible _sound_ …

The blond wished it would just stop already. For him to just speak silence. For his larynx to just somehow _break._ He wished the man… would just _die already_ … His instincts just went haywire; ballistic with _every_ _single damn_ noise.

 _ **[End him.]**_ Naruto blinked, widening his eyes. _**[Stop the noise…]**_ Every word echoed in his mind.

The screaming persisted, and it seemed to became more and more _absolutely agonizing_ to listen to. Naruto couldn't stop his legs from tensing.

 _{…Fuck. This.}_ The boy cursed to himself, and he started to walk over to his sword.

He knew what had to be done to finish this. Mizuki was already dying; there was no taking him back to the village for interrogation or imprisonment. There would be no judge, only an… executioner.

Konohamaru watched him warily as he approached, and as Naruto stopped along the way and reached down for his hat.

He couldn't stop himself. Just the thought of it soothed his nerves, if only by the barest of minimums. Although it was surprisingly _spotless_ considering it felt in his hand as if there was some sort of phantom taint now clouding it.

He situated it on his head anyway.

"Kid…" The call out was hardly audible, yet Konohamaru heard it just as easily as he would had the blond yelled it out.

Naruto walked, avoiding turning his vision towards Iruka, before reaching down for his sword. He gripped it, the same emanating taint as his hat covering it as well. Not only in his mind this time, however. Still wet blood covered it's metal, droplets of the red substance running down the hilt once they had gathered together with enough weight, staining the already sullied hilt.

He grit his teeth, feeling it drip over his hand.

Naruto heard the young Sarutobi's breath hitch–what might have been _fear_ –however the blond then turned back around clutching his sword, and started treading almost lethargically over to 'Mizuki'. As he moved, Naruto glanced back and met Konohamaru's brown hues with his own violet-blue.

"…Just… look away _._ "

Konohamaru's eyes widened a fraction, yet he didn't look away. He was already past the point of no return.

Naruto hadn't bothered to notice this as he turned his sights back towards his objective and steeled his resolve. He attempted to block out the sound of Mizuki beginning to shout again, keeping steady in his paces, yet the noise founds it's way to his core every time. The blond flipped the sword around in his hand, and felt his fingers adjust the the grooves in the wrapping even more the tighter he squeezed it.

He took his last step, and came to a stop in front of 'Mizuki'. The blond eyed the silver haired, dying man, and held the blade above his throat. The screaming barely hiccuped, Mizuki's eyes staring straight up into the darkening sky, past Naruto's forcibly blank visage.

As soon as the tip touched the man's neck, the screams took an instant halt. Clarity came over his mind as complete silence finally overtook the area, and a light, cool breeze passed through the clearing. It seemed to whistle, and in unintentional sync Naruto let out a breath alongside it.

Mizuki started again, and Naruto's clarity fractured. The noise gnawed at his being. How it had gotten to this point so fast, he didn't know, but it was just _torturous._ It was like the noise was increased ten-fold, bouncing around in his head and it pained his ears to such extremes that he just wanted to go _insane._

Naruto plunged the blade downward; forcing the metal through the man's throat.

This time, surely ending the life of _Namika Mizuki._

…

 _Silence._

Naruto tried to withdraw the sword, however he felt his body go still, and his muscles stiffen; _against his will_. His hands stayed holding the wakizashi, and his position didn't change at all… but he just _paused_ in his movement.

 _{I can't move…?}_

Sure enough, he tried to move his feet, but couldn't. Naruto could only willingly move his lungs, tongue, and eyes. A sizable amount of panic began to bubble up inside of him, as this was something he quite swiftly came to realize. His body wouldn't obey his commands, as it was frozen. His eyes drifted over to Konohamaru, who was just looking around, head turning in every which direction. Like he was trying to identify where something was.

It brought something to his attention as he felt the breeze leave, leaving only the… _whistle._ This was something he had failed to notice; and Konohamaru seemed to hear it long before he did.

The whistle… that wasn't the wind gliding through the trees. No.

 _{Then_ _ **what**_ _is it?}_

The fear swelled inside of him more as the melody persisted, and the longer it did, the more he could tell describe how it was being made. It sounded partly familiar, like he had heard it before. It wasn't something that he heard _often_ , but he could recognize the sound well enough.

It was a… flute…?

The arrangement of tones was odd; strange. Piercing. He could physically feel the sound weaving itself together, layering. Like a Genjutsu. Yet, _where was it coming from?_

It didn't sound like it was coming from any sort of logical direction whatsoever. Everywhere and nowhere at the same time. His eyes couldn't detect anyone hidden in the dark forest either.

Another noise was heard behind, alarming him even further. Something heavy was being dragged across the ground, that he couldn't see, steps accompanying it. He saw Konohamaru look towards him, tears in his eyes. But these weren't tears of distress; no, these were tears of… joyful relief?

It wasn't _him_ he was looking at. Another person. _{But who?}_

"Hey, ANBU-san! Over here–" his voice dropped off, and Naruto heard a heavy thump as whatever was being dragged was dropped.

 _{ANBU…?}_ His vision was drawn back as far as he could look. That's what Konohamaru had said before–

Suddenly, he flickered his sights back at Konohamaru, who was now _asleep. {What… Why is he…?}_

"Hm." the person hummed from behind him, along with the light rustle of cloth. Naruto glanced to the side to see a bird masked ANBU dressed in black–a cloak of the same color signifying his rank in the 'Black Ops'— _casually_ walking past him. Naruto fixed his gaze on the blank masked person, who stared back, eyes disturbingly expressionless.

"Well done _Number 3_ … you are improving quite nicely with your Genjutsu skills." A teenage male voice praised behind the blank mask, certainly talking to the flute player. Paralyzed, Naruto watched as he kneeled right in front of him, next to Mizuki.

 _{Genjutsu…!}_ He was right. Naruto assessed his current situation with panicked haste.

One; He was trapped in a genjutsu; a sound based genjutsu that used a flute as it's focus. That's why he couldn't move. Someone–'Number 4'–was currently playing that flute, hidden by the forest, and keeping him restrained using only _sound_. It was so _powerful_ ; he was astounded. Like an iron vice. All the students of the academy had been put under non-harmful Genjutsu, so they could train in breaking out and improving their chakra control… but… somehow this sound was _physically_ restraining him.

Two; He had no clue who the hell that was, or what his affiliation was. Despite the cloak and mask, and given the current circumstances, Naruto _highly_ doubted that was a Konoha ANBU. He had seen quite a few ANBU, and he could just tell by his sheer demeanor that this was _not one…_

The bird mask wasn't one he had ever seen before, but every ANBU of Konoha had an animal themed mask of some kind. What really set this guy apart, was that while many normal ANBU could be cold or unsettling, many _didn't_ give off the _immoral, testing, dark and analytical_ vibe that the one right in front of him was radiating. Maybe it was because he had only ever really seen ANBU who had a sense of personality, but this just felt _different_.

Reaching out, the figure placed his fingers on the silver haired husk's neck. He let out another hum. "As expected. Unfortunately, we're going to have to report this field test as a failure…" the _ANBU_ spoke once more.

 _{Field… test…?_ _ **FIELD**_ _…_ _ **TEST**_ _?}_ Naruto repeated in his head. What was that supposed to mean? _Field test?_ This was just all some sort of _test_?

"Lasted less than 2 minutes; Orochimaru-sama will be displeased…" the sigh from the ANBU imposter was audible.

 _{Of course…}_ Naruto's horrified stare bored into the 'ANBU' as he connected the dots.

Of course it would be Orochimaru's subordinate… This wasn't simply something that had gone wrong for Mizuki due to his greed, or unfulfillment of his purpose. Orochimaru was a _scientist_. This was just a 'test'. Mizuki _was_ the test. The silver haired man was the chemical doll of this experiment.

 _{How could I have missed that…?}_ He hadn't even taken that into _consideration_ , even as it was so _obvious_. It had happened right in front of him, and there had been no other red flags.

One thing he did know, though, was that he _had_ to break free. His chakra already seemed to be ahead of him on that. As soon as he realized he was under the Genjutsu, it had been _eating_ away at it; for lack of a better term.

"Oh well. He served his purpose… Though I am quite disappointed that he hadn't managed to obtain the real scroll. It's not like it had been expected, however." he took a scroll of his own from his belt, and unrolled it across the corpse's face, right next to the sword.

 _ **~Poof**_

With one small application of chakra, the still-warm corpse that had once laid there, disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only red stains on the grass and a few scrolls that Mizuki had on him.

"Subject 12 collected." Rolling it up, he reattached it to his belt. The 'ANBU', turned around and faced him. "Oh, I guess I should _thank you_ … this test was quite important to Orochimaru-sama… You may not know it, but all three of you provided some good data. Entertaining to watch, as well."

 _ **Entertaining?**_ _This was… entertaining?_

Naruto felt his chakra pushing harder against the Genjutsu, him along with it, and unseen to him the caster was experiencing a few problems of her own. The red haired girl internally cursed up a veritable storm in her mind while sweating buckets trying to restrain him. The tone was starting to waver in rhythm, and Naruto heard a tree several yards to the left rustle.

The 'ANBU' then waved his hand dismissively, before continuing. "Oh but don't _fret_ , you yourself are very important to him as well. However I must inform you that he believes you're not ready _just_ yet."

Naruto's head immediately flooded with all sorts of questions, especially at the last part. _Ready for_ _ **what**_ _? What exactly was that supposed to_ _ **mean**_ _?!_

He felt his chakra flare, and several layers of the Genjutsu totally _shattered._ Only a few moments more, and it would be broken.

"Still a little ways off. This was more of an observation of your abilities… he wanted to know what you would do in a life or death situation; and this provided the perfect setting for another test. _Killing two birds with one stone, as it were._ And I must say–quite _impressive_ actually. Impressive enough that it's nearly _three birds down_ at this point."

"In fact…" the words trailed off, and the imposter stepped forward to him, taking out a square slip of paper noticeably covered with a seal of some sort. It wasn't like the one that had been on Mizuki, but it was awfully similar in arrangement and size. This one had three tomoe-esq markings, as opposed to the three plus-sign-like marks on the other. Naruto stared at the piece of paper like it was the equivalent of a paper bomb, already starting to burn away.

"Might as well, _hm_?"

 _And he was going to put it on him._

As soon as he had realized this, Naruto's thoughts took a turn for what could only be, _dread_.

 _{No… No. No! No! No!}_ Hestruggled as hard as he possibility could against the Genjutsu, attempting to rip whatever control that the sound had on his mind and body, away. To the point where he could feel some of his 'less important' body parts start to gain mobility again, such as his eyelids, mouth, toes, and a few fingers. It wasn't enough. Small waves of chakra jolted through his system, and although they did damage the stability of the Genjutsu; _it wasn't enough._

"Don't move." the 'ANBU' said, dull sarcasm heavy in his voice. The paper touched his neck.

 _{_ _ **SHIT!**_ _}_ Naruto shouted in his mind, alarmed as the imposter started making quick hand signals.

The blond could feel the markings burn into his skin with each hand-sign. Maroon chakra roared in his system, chewing at the lacing of the Genjutsu, but still wasn't going fast enough. _{_ _ **COME ON!**_ _}_

He couldn't let that _thing_ be tattooed onto him. _There was no way_. Naruto felt his knees shift. He was _so close,_ but the same could be said for the completion of the seal on him. It was as if it was _sinking_ into his neck. Probably because it _was_.

 _ **[Break. Break. Break.]**_

"And…" the 'ANBU' started, flashing through several more signs, before coming to a stop and backing away. Naruto's breathing stopped, as he didn't feel anything more from the seal, but rather something _cold_ connect with his chakra system.

"Done."

One word. It only took _one word_ to send chills unlike any others he had ever had running through his spine.

The Genjutsu completely crumbled, nearly instantaneous in comparison to how fast it had been going earlier, leaving one red haired flute player stunned. She responded in kind. "FUCK!"

Naruto's eyes went blank of any emotion–irises turning dark red–and as soon as the ANBU imposter could react to either that or the yell from the forest, he felt something _carve_ into his face diagonally between his eyes; right through his mask.

The sword had moved from one side of the blond's body, to the other.

The 'ANBU' was just able to launch himself away to avoid being sliced through the throat by another swing. He landed, holding the piece of his mask that nearly fell off to his face.

" _Keh–_ " he scoffed, before quickly calling out to yet _another_ person, hand raised. "Number 4, hold off!"

The person must have heard him, because there was no movement in the trees.

Naruto went to follow the 'ANBU', only to be stopped short as a flute notes were played at blazingly fast speeds from 'Number 3'. His legs froze, and he was brought to a stand still. The Genjutsu was quickly rebuilt, the red haired kunoichi putting so much effort into reforming it that she was close to losing breath. Her lungs strained to supply her with the required air to play her flute at such a pace, for such a long, ongoing period.

"–Well… that's going to be a problem." the ash-grey haired ANBU imposter mumbled to himself, slightly annoyed. "Quite the vicious response to the seal… Are you always this unpleasant?" he joked, before snapping his fingers.

At the sound trigger, multiple average sized pure black snakes burst out of the clearing ground and latched onto Naruto's calves, ankles, and feet. His eyes slowly faded back to their natural color as the red chakra was quite literally sucked out of him by the chakra eating reptiles, leaving the blond gasping desperately for air. It only made it more so demanding to fight against the Genjutsu blocking off the rest of his free movement.

"If you're worried about what happened to Subject 12, then fear not. The Cursed Seal of Heaven has a much lower chance of killing the user. Only about– _30%_ with extended use." the black cloaked male approached him.

Naruto was becoming dizzy. Black dots started to dance in his vision when the snakes eventually absorbed all the Kyuubi chakra in his system. They didn't stop there, though. Every time the smallest amount of chakra trickled back into his coils, it was taken away from him, leaving only a survivable amount left. He could tell his heart was slowing in rate… and that dry feeling came back to him, along with a host of other effects. This time it felt like it lasted forever, instead of that one glimpse of it he had.

"So I'd say, if you _don't_ want to die, then get stronger. Jiraiya will most likely counter-seal it, however, do know, that won't last _forever_. Orochimaru estimates a few years at most–there is no way to know for sure as it depends mostly on _you_. I do have some forewarning though, when the day comes that it does fully activate;" the 'ANBU' grabbed the blond's shoulder. "The _more_ you fight against it, the _worse_ it will get."

"Now… I do believe It's time for us to leave," he let go of Naruto's shoulder and glanced over to the forest to the left. "Number 4! Gather the others!"

It was barely the slightest rustle of leaves denoted 'Number 4's disappearance, then the 'ANBU' fraud turned back to the young seal bearer, who had gave him a half lidded glare.

" _That said_ ; best of luck to you… _Uzumaki-san_ …" With those words, the cloaked fake shunshin'd away.

The Genjutsu was released in that same moment, leaving Naruto to drop to his knees and then onto his front; the exhaustion too much for him to struggle with any longer. The snakes disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the last thing he saw before the world went black were the dead eyes of a real ANBU staring into his own.

* * *

 **So...**

 **(1)** Sasuke was only able to do _2 Chidori a day_ without risking death by chakra exhaustion… and that's a controlled, trained technique. Of course, Naruto has pretty large chakra reserves, but not nearly as much as canon. I just find it quite unrealistic that he could have such an immense amount of chakra to use whenever, without needing time to recharge.

And with the excuse that the Kyuubi is constantly feeding his system chakra, therefore inflating it and making it larger–it's understandable; but logically, if chakra coils are actually any sort of physical organ (Of which I'm pretty sure they _are_ ) 'you cannot fit 100 pounds of potatoes, in a 5 pound sack.' if you know what I mean. Plus, he hasn't even matured yet- he's not even a teenager.

In short, his Chakra Capacity is really more in line with that of a normal 10 year old's than a full grown adult's, or chakra beast's. Or 11, since as of the time in the story above, his birthday is getting rather close.

HOWEVER; if you'd want _another_ reason why he would be totally drained after a single use of the 'Self-Harm-Inflicting-Pseudo-Chidori' (Or one and a half uses, counting the first one), it's because he didn't know just _how much_ _control_ over his chakra output he has. Like trying to spit and instead spewing out 80% of your body's liquid at once, without knowing you could do that. You spit, and out comes the flood. And in this situation, he just wastes a HUGE amount of chakra, spewing out more than he tries to consciously convert into Lightning Nature.

Anyone who disagrees, do tell me why! I'd love to hear your reasoning!

 **A/N**

 **I feel like the above should be an 'A/N' under the A/N thing, but… whatever. So, how did you like this chapter? Hopefully better than the last. This one is far more action packed. Feels kind of repetitive in some places, but rereading it myself, I wasn't getting the vibe that it was too much. Also… LOTS OF WORDS–About 8,000. Biggest** _ **whole**_ **chapter I've ever released. I didn't cut this one for three reasons;**

 **1\. It flows better whole.**

 **2\. Mizuki needed to die. He had been alive for too long, and if I were to slice this one in half it would just be delaying the inevitable. Do you guys like what I did with his character, btw? Adds more to him than just being a character set to die for the sake of dying.**

 **3\. Because you guys are awesome.**

 **Well, I'm starving because I haven't eaten since like 7:00AM, and for me, it's about 4:30PM– So,**

 **Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it! Do review, I like reading them a lot–as long as they're not about me supposedly 'writing sexually explicit scenes involving children' (Well, more directly said than that, but)-**

– **Bro, If you want to flame, flame what** _ **exists**_ **. It would hold a lot more weight. And trust me, there are things that** _ **actually exist**_ **in deserving of flames. ;P**

 **~Impassive Purple**


	15. Interrogation

**(UPDATED A/N, Glaring grammar mistakes fixed)**

 **I'm so internally conflicted. Damnit.**

 **BUT; fine. I'll try to keep this story going. But you'll have to forgive me if the plot goes off the rails a bit. Not counting that the beginning basically had none to begin with. ;P  
**

 **This is gonna be a bitch.**

 **'Jojo' (Dear guest reviewer, you know who you are): you should make an account. There are literally no downsides, and sometimes I want to reply to you, yet I cannot. Which as you can imagine, sucks, because I'm stuck looking at your review and your name which lacks the link to your profile, or a reply button. So when you ask a question such as "Are you abandonign it then?" it becomes null. Unless I answer it how I am right now. .**

* * *

 _ **Unknown location, Unknown time**_

" _Uzumaki Naruto."_

 _His name… Who was saying it?_

 _Hearing the firm voice, Naruto slowly opened his violet-blue hues to be met with the sight of a metal ceiling above him. Strange. His whole body felt oddly numb, not in a particularly bad or good way. More like he couldn't feel the weight of his body. Very odd. What was nice, was the fact that there was no pain, no aches, no throbbing or burning in his hand…_

 _His eyes widening slightly, as the memories before the darkness came flooding back to him. It was almost no–a_ _nightmare_ _. It had him questioning if all of that really had happened, and he hadn't just thought it all up. Too many… holes… to have actually happened._

 _On the contrary; the blood on his clothes, and paling skin served to ground it._

 _Naruto looked down, feeling the dull bite of something on his wrists, one of which was bandaged. {Handcuffs…?}_

 _Further down he went, looking intently at his legs. Itchy. There were tiny little–what looked like pin pricks–all over his lower shins and and ankles._

 _The snakes' doing…_

 _His dull, sleepy eyes drifted over towards the man who had called his name. Tall, imposing, yet scarred like a prisoner of war… A Konoha emblem was engraved on the plate attached to his dark blue cloth skull cap. A Konoha shinobi…_

 _The metal barred door of the cell he was in creaked open, and the man stepped in._

… _Why was he in a cell?_

" _Uzumaki Naruto," one Morino Ibiki spoke once more. "Get up." he commanded._

 _The weight that came with the order was like a solid slap. The light feeling started to fade from Naruto's body, as he realized just how uncomfortable the surface he was laying on actually was. Much worse than even his couch at home. He changed positions to sit up on the bed he was on, in obedience of the authoritative man. Rather than standing though, he simply hung his legs over the edge. He tilted his head, locking eyes with the seemingly hardened man. Despite the steely stare, Naruto faced it blankly._

"… _Where am I?" he asked, drowsy. His stomach growled, but he didn't pay attention to it. There were more important matters to occupy his mind with._

" _Doesn't matter. Get up. You're going to answer a few questions." Ibiki 'answered' the boy. "Let me put it this way; If you refuse, there are alternatives. Forcing the information out of you through other means is well within my capabilities if you do not cooperate." The man didn't even hesitate to follow it up with a threat. Naruto narrowed his eyes, mostly in confusion._

 _{What…?} His awareness clicked. It was hard not to see where he was. Cell, Handcuffs, questioning under threat; interrogation. {T &I.} _

_The setting was definitely right, but why was he in Torture & Interrogation? Did they still believe he was behind everything? Why? Wouldn't Konohamaru tell them he wasn't the one behind it? _

_{Would he…?}_

 _Well whatever it was, he was here. Maybe they didn't believe him? Naruto cursed to himself, though if he had to admit, It wouldn't be the most shocking thing ever. Who would believe some spoiled, rich and sheltered six year old in this kind of serious matter, where all the evidence–from what he could tell–was_ _quite clearly_ _pointed at him?_

 _Naruto looked from his restraints, and back to the interrogator. In any case; this… was not good._

 _{What time is it?} He couldn't see any light from the outside–given T &I was supposedly under the Intelligence Division building, that would make sense–so he wasn't sure what time, or even what day it was. How long had he been asleep…? It had to have been a few minutes, at most… _

_{Ugh…} Pain flashed through his head._

 _He blinked back to focus. His head hurt. A lot. The longer he was awake and with each passing moment, the more sleep deprived he felt; the sorer he felt. It was like he had been up for the past 36 hours, just being the personal punching bag for a group of genin._

 _Using all of his chakra–while not a conscious decision–could have been one of the most terrible things he had, or ever would do to himself. He was lucky to still be alive. Any other person may have very well_ _died_ _._

 _Maybe if he had time to think–longer than what felt like the eight seconds he was under the pressure of formulating some sense of a functional plan during–he could have thought of something that wouldn't have the possibility to kill him, or make him feel like absolute_ _shit_ _afterward._

 _Of course, in the heat of it, he didn't quite realize this had ever been a problem._

 _Naruto was yanked out of his thoughts when without warning, the man grabbed the back of his neck and pushed him to his feet, shoving him through the exit of the confining room. His voice came behind the boy shortly after._

" _I meant it the_ _first_ _time."_

 _{Oh… no…!} The sudden movement made Naruto lightheaded, and he struggled to keep on his feet. He felt his stomach turn, and his senses spin. Before he could fall the same hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder, catching him. It was then that the Jounin–he doubted he was anything less, given the man's sturdy persona–started roughly guiding him down the hall._

 _The blond let out a short breath, the flashes of unpleasant warmth through his brain enough to jar him with every step._

 _Naruto swerved his eyes back a few times, looking up to the sharp-eyed interrogator. His face was more deathly serious than a heart attack. The blond ran over everything in his brain as he walked–a bunch of questions he likely wasn't getting the answers to–however all he was getting back was a jumbled mess of random thoughts and painful pulses._

 _It was quiet, as they moved. Only the sound of boots behind him, and his own sandals. During the short walk they passed many other doors and a few other cells spaced apart from each other, some having people in them. A few looked up, but none said anything. One, it seemed, physically couldn't–as he had some sort of cover over his mouth. What all of them held in common was that they all looked worn out, and dead-eyed. Mentally exhausted to the extreme._

 _Naruto winced, having to squint after finally being turned through an opened door and into a room with only a table, two chairs, and a very bright light above. He wasn't sure if that facet of it was just his eyes light sensitivity due to his intense migraine or not._

 _He stumbled when the Jounin pushed him into a chair. Although it had restraining devices, the man didn't use them. Instead, he opted to just close the door and pull out the other chair, sitting down._

 _The Jounin's expression stayed stone solid as he began to speak. "Uzumaki Naruto. As of our shinobi taking you into custody, you are the prime suspect for multiple treasonous crimes against the Leaf, sentenceable by death. Including–not limited to–murder of at least two fellow shinobi, and taking a hostage for the trade of precious village secrets and techniques."_

* * *

 ** _Interrogation Room, Present_**

Dead.

That's what one could describe Naruto as at this point in time. Followed by; exhausted, in pain, and motionless in his chair. Of course, his day just seemed to stretch on longer. And longer. _And longer…_

Guilty until proven innocent. The amount of proof he had that he was actually innocent, were his own words, along with a DNA test in dirt ridden blood, and a few pieces of hair. A test that was still being done as he was sitting here, in the chilled quiet. Even then, if the results were in his favor it would only give him around half of what he needed to be let out. It would only upgrade him to 'possibly innocent/possibly guilty'.

He could say he was surprised he hadn't developed some sort of mental aptitude for always assuming the whole village was out to get him.

Although he was left alone, the interrogator probably wasn't worried whatsoever–if he was trying to act innocent, it would be stupid to try and escape, as that would put that much more suspicion on him. It would pull him deeper.

He knew he should probably take the absence of the Jounin to sleep. It would be wise of him, as he desperately needed it and couldn't do anything else until the man got back–hell if he knew how long that would take–with the DNA test results.

However, he almost didn't want to. Too many thoughts were banging against his skull. This whole thing was so… beyond _screwed up_. Why couldn't today have just been–average?

 _That would be too easy, wouldn't it?_

Apparently, his life needed a sizable dose of 'fuck you' every now and then. What was he to do about it?

* * *

" _It is also assumed–with evidence–that you are working under the S-rank nuke-nin, Orochimaru, as the Cursed Seal is one reminiscent of one we have seen before. He specializes in them; as far as we know, he marks his_ _subordinates_ _with them."_

 _Naruto's eyes widened, and his head jerked up._

 _{Subordinates…?} That took Naruto's crumbling mental order, even further into dystopia. Not to mention, he had_ _almost_ _forgotten about the mark. His eyes were drawn down to it, in spite of his lack of ability to see it. It just felt so… normal. Unlike earlier, he couldn't tell that it was even connected to his chakra network._

 _Was there any way he could_ _get it off_ _? There had to be something. The image of Mizuki slowly cooking in his own skin as his own body destroyed itself, was one he wasn't likely to get rid of for a while. And that sound…_

 _Naruto felt his spine rack with a shiver._

 _Not to mention the chances of survival… He'd heard of Kiba scoring higher than that… {_ _ **Thirty percent.**_ _} It felt like cold water through his veins. Even that was a true statistic–which he kind of doubted it was–those were still_ _horrible_ _odds…_

 _Well, not necessarily, but that depended on who was taking the bet. Just under_ _one in three_ _?_

 _The fact it could kill him_ _at all_ _; and even worse, that it was_ _attached to his body_ _was something that he knew for a fact he couldn't describe how much he was_ _ **not ok**_ _with it!_

 _How was it even triggered? Mizuki used chakra multiple times, and it didn't activate. Did that mean he was safe until he consciously used it? Or was put into a near-death state, like the man was?_

" _The_ _ **Cursed Seal Of Heaven**_ _has a much lower chance of killing the user."_

 _That's what the fake ANBU had told him. It didn't reassure him at all, but one thing he knew was that this one was different than the mark Mizuki had. It could be_ _completely_ _different. Hell, it could activate at the slightest leak of chakra!_

 _What if it did? What if he couldn't get rid of it? What if it fused with his chakra system… like the seal holding the Kyuubi did? Then…?_

 _A sudden stabbing disturbance in his head killed off any further distressed contemplating on the subject. The headache was near head-splitting, and he closed his eyes in order to block out the bright light that seemed as if it were burning into his retinas. He took a deep breath, his head calming down._

"– _And we can only assume that you had accomplices as well, given the evidence. There have already been multiple different bodies discovered, and your skills are nowhere on par to take on eleven ANBU; or even just one."_

" _Eleven…?" Naruto whispered to himself again and he opened his eyes once more, staring at the table. Those three–no, wait. {Number 3… Number_ _ **4**_ _…}_

 _Four then? Four of them–maybe more–had ambushed and killed_ _eleven_ _ANBU? What?_

 _{So many…} There couldn't have been more than maybe thirty, at_ _most_ _forty active ANBU in service of the village–at least that he knew of. That was a significant loss in the ranks._

" _Good men, and women." the man commented, however Naruto was on a different subject of debate. Naruto's mind had just caught another portion of the_ _previous_ _statement. Particularly, the end._

– _So they_ _didn't_ _believe he was the one to kill that ANBU? Then… who was the_ _second_ _person they thought he had killed?_

 _Mizuki and–Iruka?_

 _Naruto almost refused to believe this, even if it was the most likely. They had to have gotten to Iruka before he bled out. There had to be_ _at least_ _one medic nin to try and keep him alive! Some blood pills, or something! Right?!_

 _The blond dug his fingernails into his palm, drawing blood. {Damnit…!}_

 _He couldn't do anything about it… No… He could have, but didn't. He made the decision to sacrifice the arm. He had let him die…_

" _Uzumaki, there are some gaps in this theory that we haven't quite figured out yet… In fact, they're the reason why you haven't been immediately put in chains. To be honest, it could have just as easily been decided that you're guilty and you would have been under lock and key. Just like that."_

 _Naruto stayed silent._

"… _If you want my_ _personal_ _opinion, it's even possible they will yank that chakra demon you could consider your life-force_ _straight out of you_ _. Think of it this way–_ _ **Jinchuriki**_ _aren't much use to the village if they would betray it. You think you're special? Not really."_

 _The blond twitched._

" _The fourth's sacrifice was sealing it. Moving it into another body wouldn't be nearly as costly. I guarantee it. It'd be put in another host, and_ _you_ _would be put in the ground. And if If not all that, you would probably go through mental conditioning… In that case… I think we can_ _both_ _agree that death would be a blessing…" Ibiki continued._

 _The words broke Naruto's thoughts, making him loosen his grip on his palms. He looked down at the table for a moment more, before reluctantly looked up._

"… _It_ _wasn't_ _me. Look, I get why-"_

 _Ibiki folded his hands on the table. "That's for me to decide, given I'm able to get something useful out of you." he retorted. "Firstly, what was the purpose? Because we both know it wasn't to get the scroll. Obviously, you aren't that stupid."_

" _No…" Naruto stared at the man. "That was Mizuki's secondary goal-"_

" _Namika Mizuki? The one who was found in his home stabbed to death?"_

" _No… That body; it was fake. You don't-" The blond tried to convince, but the man would have none of it. Naruto twitched when he cut short once again._

" _On the contrary, so real it is. Even a rookie could tell you that the body is a human corpse… the blood is as genuine as the substance flowing through our bodies right now. Same with the organs, skin tissue, bones… It has been lightly examined already. That was once a living, breathing person. You say it isn't Mizuki's? Then who's body is it? What poor soul was stabbed to death in that apartment?"_

 _Naruto clenched his teeth. "I don't know, but it sure as hell wasn't_ _his body_ _-!"_

" _Would you be implying that he faked his own death?" Ibiki pressed. "Is he working under Orochimaru, alongside you?"_

" _He_ _was-" Naruto ground his foot into the metal floor in frustration. "-_ _NOT me_ _. Konohamaru_ _and_ _I were both kidnapped by him; the real goal being_ _me_ _–don't play like you don't know why… Konohamaru was bait for the 'scroll of secrets–or whatever' which was just a secondary objective." The blonde fired off, glaring the intimidating Jounin down. The man stared back, calculative, and watching for even the smallest slip up. The slightest hint, flicker of an eye, or off breath. None._

" _He_ _put the explosive tags on Konohamaru, and made me write the letter. Konohamaru was unconscious the entire time, until we left towards the bridge, and he was definitely up when I broke the henge of me that was on Mizuki. He can confirm that I'm telling you the truth; go ask_ _him_ _. He might know why Mizuki was trying to frame me, 'cause I_ _don't_ _, past me likely being easy to pin it on…"_

 _Ibiki narrowed his eyes. "Uzumaki; that's impossible. Sarutobi Konohamaru is no longer among the living."_

 _The sentence brought about an entirely new wave of complication. Not just a slap in the face; a sucker punch to the gut. Complete with concealed brass knuckles. Surprise. For a long moment, there was more silence. And then Naruto spoke again._

" _What… are you talking about?"_

* * *

 ** _Present_**

Naruto had slowly let his emotions still. Forever and a half at staring at the table, going over what he knew, what could have happened…

Left were only questions. Ever battering questions.

Was it too much to ask that he could be some sort of heartless bastard that doesn't give a damn? Apathetic to the core, maybe? Not just the thin layer on the outside, that helped him guide his way through social interaction?

 _{He wasn't asleep…}_ The same lines kept repeating over and over in his head. _{Why did he die? How did he die?}_

There were no fatal wounds, from what he had been told; nothing obvious showing how he died. Just that he _did_. Simply, no pulse.

 _That wasn't how it worked._ There had to be a cause. As any person with any common sense could say; one does not simply just 'die'.

Stress? That genjutsu?

Mental stress. Not entirely out of the realm of possibility, though he doubted it. Sheltered or not; Konohamaru was being raised in a shinobi village.

In other words, chances were he wasn't a weak-willed bitch. Vulgar as that statement was, it fit.

Konohamaru was the nephew of Sarutobi Asuma, and the grandson of the Sandaime himself. The oh-great shinobi leader of the last several decades. It had to at least have some sort of effect. The blond didn't know who the boy's parents were, but they were probably shinobi too. It was in his _blood_. If mental stress alone was enough to stop his heart…

 _No._

But then, what may be the most likely, what made the most sense simultaneously _didn't_ because of one simple fact. Or, what was thought to be fact.

Genjutsu _can't kill people._ Yes, he was pretty sure there have been those who tried, but obviously those same people failed.

It tied back into the mental stress. Genjutsu can simulate a lot of messed up scenes; and people could bare seeing some very, _very_ _disturbing_ things, whether that be in nightmares or in reality… though how weak willed would one have to be to die because of it? A few signals through the brain?

And then again, a genjutsu that could physically restrict someone and hold them in place, without him being put to sleep or something of the sort… He was fully conscious. Was that even a genjutsu in that case?

The ANBU imposter had already left by the time he fell unconscious. Did he, or one of his lackeys come back just to feed him undetectable poison or something? What would be the point?

" _Asleep? Tell that to the Sandaime, who is probably grieving over the kid's body as we speak."_ Naruto remembered the words of the interrogator.

He wasn't sure if 'survivor's guilt' was a correct description of what he felt, but he could already envision the questioning in the Sandaime's mind. Ringing in his head.

 _'Why did_ _he_ _survive, when Konohamaru didn't?'_

Value. _More_ value. So much value…

He wasn't made of gold–no; that's not what a scientist akin to Orochimaru would want–but he oozed _worth_. Or rather, the chakra monster inside of him did. He just happened to be the one that was in possession of it.

There was a thought in his head that the only reason the 'Numbers' didn't kill Iruka, was because they thought he would have died by the time help arrived. Thankfully enough, they were wrong, yet...

That same skull splitting feeling from earlier suddenly came back. It was taking its toll on him. Naruto's eyes were half-lidded, as he put his head on the table bearing through the flaring pain. Chakra deprivation was _awful_. Even though most of his was coming back to him, the after effects were like his own personalized _hell_ at times. He needed more than just the chakra back…

His stomach growled for the umpteenth time.

He needed _substance_. The last thing he had was a light breakfast; he hadn't eaten in hours. Normally this wouldn't be a problem for him; he had gone without food before. Right now it was much different…

What he'd give for some fatty beef ramen, and maybe a tooth rotting amount of lemonade. Or straight lemon juice. Or any potable liquid at all, as long as it had enough sour in it to kill a moose; and maybe an equivalent amount of sugar. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

And _sleep_ … His brain was slowly coming to terms with the fact that there was an abnormally prominent need for it. At this point, it wouldn't have mattered if he was currently laying in quicksand, about to suffocate.

Naruto dully stared at the wall, taking in the dead silence. Oddly relaxing despite the situation. Should he have felt bad for feeling this way? Probably, but he didn't care…

His eyelids steadily started to droop, before he finally let them fall.

* * *

 _ **Council Room**_

Hatake Kakashi eyed all of the people in the room. The council room, as he was sitting in it once more. Really a rare occurrence–he wasn't apart of the council. However this matter, although he wasn't directly involved like last time, he felt he had a right to be in on.

The verdict of Naruto's supposed betrayal of the village.

This time, the room was absent of two people; Umino Iruka, Shimura Danzo. One for obvious reasons. Iruka was under care at the hospital, recovering. Danzo on the other hand… he had no clue.

Whatever it was, he seriously hoped it didn't involve Naruto in any way, shape, or form. That was all he _could do_. Danzo was a man who drew all kinds of suspicion, and shady vibes. Dark vibes. Yet despite that, he was seemingly quite untouchable. That never sat well with him, and it never would.

Three were absent from this meeting, if you counted the very life–the _soul_ –of the Sandaime… sitting broken in the chair at the head of the table. None of the words being said at the table, the old man had any reaction to. Nor would he have said anything if he had. For all purposes, the old hokage was just a breathing _shell_.

With every right to be.

After the _third_ group of ANBU had been sent, he along with the Sandaime and a few other shinobi–mainly Tsume and Shibi–had followed shortly behind.

They immediately knew something was wrong when they came across the bodies of the ANBU that had been loosely shadowing Iruka. All of them had been strung together with some kind of web–that same web also covering their mouths–and all were slit at the throat.

His only thoughts at the time had been; _{How?}_

They were taken out like a group of genin. Little to no struggle, it appeared. It boggled his mind.

 _How had they become ANBU in the first place? If it was so easy to get the jump on them, how had they made it through basic training?_

When they had arrived to the clearing, the other ANBU were already there. Two were tending to an unconscious Iruka, who had one stump of a shoulder tightly wrapped. The actual limb was still lying on the ground near him.

A grimace crossed his masked lower face. His eyes traveled over to the next.

Another ANBU was knelt down binding– _Naruto_. Unmistakably him. That shade of blond hair was a rarity in the leaf village.

Those injuries… His left hand looked like a fire jutsu gone wrong. Like so many of those Uchiha kids that had gone to the hospital, trying to use their hands to funnel the Katon chakra–only to fail miserably. The boy's right was similar, to an extent. Quite bit better, but it still looked painful.

There were little bite marks on his legs too. Miniscule holes in the flesh that leaked red blood.

 _{What…?}_

Also unconscious. He could tell this because both male's chests were still expanding and contracting. Breathing. Obviously though, they weren't moving.

The last though, had two lying in a black body bags… one being _Konohamaru_. The woman who had just finished zipping his up, turned to the Sandaime, and gave him a look that could only be sympathetic. Even through the mask, everyone could tell.

Within moments of being in the clearing, Tsume's nin-dog had detected another scent. _Multiple_ other scents. The groups split, and who followed it he couldn't remember. The hokage stayed with him, and the ANBU who were tending to Iruka, as far as he knew.

He had been more preoccupied with the curse mark on the young blond boy's neck.

Flash forward to now. Konohamaru was being externally examined for cause of death, and Naruto had been grilled by Ibiki; yielding results similar to what he and several others had assumed. More people involved, and Kuromaru–Tsume's dog–finding that scent had confirmed it. Maybe six others. Possibly more. Ibiki had given everyone Naruto's entire story, detail for detail. He explained Naruto's every emotion. Every quirk, and every movement.

What surprised them all was Naruto's insistence that it was _Mizuki–_ the supposed dead man–who was responsible. The rest could basically be inferred. The teacher was acting under encouragement from Orochimaru, and the other scents the trackers of the group found were the subordinates fleeing the area.

Bingo–everything made sense…

-To him. There was no way Naruto was the culprit in all this. Kakashi firmly stood by this belief. How could anyone think otherwise? It was so _clear_ this was a setup, and everything Naruto said had matched up to every little bit of evidence they had.

The strands of hair in the clearing, the blood. All from the experiment that was Mizuki, who obviously was stupid enough to fall for Orochimaru's manipulation. As for the snake sennin's true involvement, the evidence was everywhere; the snake bites on Naruto's legs, the cursed seal. The "Numbers"–underlings–must have been the ones responsible for the death of Konohamaru–how, and for what purpose, was unknown though.

He'd say _that_ was the biggest problem here. What more was there to this end of the story?

"Before we make a decision, we need the facts, the blood tests identifying Namika Mizuki as having really been there. Only then should we not question it further." were the thoughts put into words of many in the room. It so happened that these words were coming from Koharu's mouth. "However, as of now, word of mouth is not good enough. We cannot judge actions based solely on one's character."

"I don't get why any more evidence is needed. To my knowledge, everything matches up, does it not. To top it off, I know you just said we cannot judge based on character, but tell me just what he's done in the past to lead up to _this_?" Kakashi questioned, looking around the table for a response.

"The note said it well enough. We hate him and he hates us." Chouza huffed. "But if we're going by that logic, I want _you_ to tell me what _Namika Mizuki_ has done in the past to lead up to this? I'd say the fact that Uzumaki is involved gives us more than enough reason to question, on it's own."

Kakashi eyed the Akimichi across the table in mild annoyance. "I would say that's more than a little _biased_."

"Biased? On what; the fact that the child has an _evil chakra beast_ sealed inside him? If that doesn't give enough reason, I don't know what does. And from what I've heard, my son thinks Mizuki-san is– _was_ a good teacher. Not once have I heard a complaint. I'm pretty sure his whole class agrees; with the _exception of Uzumaki_. Gotta wonder why? I don't see any reason he would do this, same as you don't see a reason that _boy_ would. Why the hell are you defending him so much, anyway?"

"You don't trust the skills of the fourth? And I would like to remind you, _sir_ , supported by what you have just said; Naruto is a _special_ case. Just because every other child in that class got fair treatment from Mizuki, doesn't mean _he_ _did_. As for me defending him; it's obvious nobody else will."

"Calm yourselves, both of you." Homura instructed. "This will get us nowhere."

Kakashi sighed, while Hiashi hummed, removing himself from his seat. "Well said. Though, seeing as I am not of use in this matter… I shall excuse myself. Also, to further emphasize Homura-sama's words; I'd advise both of you–Kakashi-san, Chouza-san–to stop your meaningless bickering before you make fools of yourselves." he turned and bowed to the rest of the council. "It is my belief that the council shall make their decision on _facts_. Not assumptions, or beliefs. While I personally must agree–although this matter has nothing to do with the Hyuuga–it does look in Uzumaki's favor, it would be wise of everyone to wait for further hard proof of his innocence."

"Good night to you all." With that said, the man exited the room. The room was engulfed with silence. That was until the door was opened, and a shinobi different from the ones guarding the door stepped in.

"Sandaime-sama, I have just been notified that Jiraiya-sama has arrived to the village."

* * *

 _ **Streets of Konoha**_

Jiraiya cracked his neck as he clacked his way down the main street of Konoha. The moon was steadily brightening in the sky above him, denoting the time. It was getting late, it seemed. He had noticed the guards at the gate seemed to be on edge about something, but he didn't bother to ask. He would probably find out soon if something happened.

Maybe someone high up in ranks had kicked the bucket? That would suck.

He reached behind himself and pulled a pocket watch from his bag. Only about 10. Huh. Not quite what he expected, it seemed much later than that. He _could_ hit up a bar, before heading off to bed? Yeah… He could learn about whatever was tripping the guards up. He'd just notify Tsunade of his presence in the village tomorrow.

The man suddenly furrowed his brow.

Wait. No. It was possible that she already left for talks. That was supposed to be around this time, wasn't it? Chunin exams coming up and everything… Unlikely, but possible.

Well, even if it was time, their sensei was bound to have substituted for her if she was. Maybe he would get to sit down and talk to the old man, finally. He had been pretty quiet lately. The death of his son and daughter-in-law really hit him hard. Understandably so. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

Jiraiya sighed. "Way to put a damper on the mood, self. Could you give me something less depressing, and maybe more… Happy? Like who my next conquest will be…" he giggled pervertedly to himself. "Hope she has big-"

He stopped his words when an ANBU appeared in front of him in a whirlwind of leaves. Blinking, he stopped in his gait. "Hm? What is it?"

"Jiraiya-sama, there is a matter of utmost importance that the council may appreciate your input on."

As expected, however the sage blinked in mild curiosity. The council wanted _him_? Whatever the issue was, it seemed to be pretty serious. Rarely did they call him for mundane matters. The only stuff they really wanted from him on a regular basis were updates on his information.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Related to…?"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **There may be a few mistakes here and there in this chapter, but that mostly because I've seen he words so much that I'm tired of them. I really don't want to read it again. xD**

 **Also, I understand that there is a lack of Ami, but do know that she is not forgotten. She is the pairing for Naruto, which I have thought quite a bit about dynamics-wise. Her absence will be fixed after the next chapter, or its possible that it will be even before that.  
**

 **Anyway, you have a good day/night! Bye.**


	16. Escalation

**Here ya' go people!**

 _ **Question:**_ **If you had to pick one thing I could try and improve more about this story, or my writing, what would it be? Also, do you like the cover art? I made it out of sheer boredom, because my life is so uninteresting.**

 **(Side note: It actually brought out somewhat of a like for drawing that I didn't know existed in me, so that's cool, I guess. I did draw the whole Naruto face–by the way, the eyes were hell–but when I had his whole face on the cover, he just looked… kinda creepy? Like, due to the downscaling it looks quite odd for some reason when his head is smaller to fit the entirety of it on the cover. Sooo… that got scrapped in favor of simplicity. Plain white background, half faced, mono-toned–bar the purple, gotta have purple–, pronounced shadows, so on. Originally–believe it or not–it was meant to be Chibi; you can see how that turned out. Better, IMO.)**

* * *

"Do you think I care?"

Ibiki sighed, staring up slightly to the taller man. He had just gotten back from formatting and explaining Uzumaki's side of the story to the council, and now…

"We wouldn't be having this conversation if I thought you did. My point is, there is no reason to be so impatient. The boy is still very much alive, and should be fine. Just exhausted. If I were to allow you to take him, it would only result in more problems."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "Ibiki. I understand where you're coming from, but again. I _do not care_. Let them start shit. Blame it on me. Now, if you would please move…"

The scarred man didn't. "He'd be out by tomorrow at the longest, unless there are further complications–which I doubt. I've been doing this for quite a while, but it wouldn't take an expert to deduct that he's innocent. However that said, I cannot allow you to take him so easily."

"Fine then." As much as the toad sage didn't want to, it seemed there was no other option. "Morino Ibiki. As your _superior_ , I am ordering you to remove yourself from this doorway, and let me pass."

Jiraiya rarely let such words escape his mouth. He could count the number of times he had to issue such orders on one hand.

The interrogator stared at the sennin for several moments, before speaking once more. "You're making a mistake."

Jiraiya ignored the remark. "What room is he in?"

Ibiki closed his eyes in reluctant acceptance as he stepped back, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. "…Room number seven."

The toad sennin began to walk forward, only calling out behind himself as he did. "By the way–before you go _tattle_ on me, I have a request; tell the council to get cozy and don't move. I'll be there in a few."

No more words were exchanged between the two. Ibiki stayed silent, simply watching the man go. He sighed. Many people were not going to like this.

* * *

Whatever Jiraiya had expected the ANBU to have told him, it was _not_ what had been explained. Not at all. The story given to him was that Naruto had supposedly _betrayed_ the village, _killing_ his sensei, and _lopping off the arm_ of his _other_ sensei; putting him in critical condition. All the while holding Sarutobi Konohamaru hostage with _explosive tags_ in a plan to acquire the forbidden scroll and defect to _Orochimaru,_ evident by the cursed seal on his neck. And to top it all off his sensei's grandson was declared _deceased_ without a clear cause…

If one were to think his reaction would be wondering if he were just absolutely crazy, and such a story had actually come out of that ANBU's mouth, one would be correct. But seeing as he _knew_ he was hearing correctly;

 _{What the fuck is this?}_

He had sent the ANBU to tell the council he would be there momentarily. It would be a bit longer than that before he showed up.

Jiraiya glanced up at the number above the upcoming door, stopping in front of it. He was going to sort all this shit out, and if that took a temporary 'screw you' to the council and his sensei, he was fine with that. And speaking of his sensei…

 _{What is he thinking?!}_

Was he even being logical right now? No, more than that, was he even acting as leader? Jiraiya was sure the man had to be absolutely distraught… But why wasn't he doing anything…?

Turning the handle to the metal obstruction, he opened it and stepped in. "Hey, kid-"

His voice dropped when he saw who he had come for. Even though he hadn't seen the boy in some time, his gaze softened through his rising irritation, and further rising anger at the sight in front of him.

Naruto had his head turned sideways on the table, wrists laid on his lap as he slept. Jiraiya grimaced when he saw the boy's injuries. They were hard to miss, but only one seemed to be bandaged. He could clearly see just how bad the one that obviously got the least of whatever brunt was; he could only imagine how bad the other one was. It seemed strange, that it was not healing at the boy's normal pace, but that could be attributed to his lack of energy.

He approached the boy, and put his hand on the blonde child's shoulder. He didn't even twitch. It took a moment of internal debate to decide whether to rouse the kid or not. The boy looked like he'd had three all-nighters, with an unhealthy side of his arms being put through the meat grinder. His skin was also so pale, compared to how he had last seen him. Like he was sick. Likely from the chakra stress.

And then, _that._ The mark. There were also various marks around it, that he couldn't tell the purpose of. That thing disgusted him. He would need to find a way to block it off before it could ingrain itself too deep into the child's system. Among many things, this was top priority. His mind was already going over multiple formulas. He had done this before, but there was no telling how much it had changed in all these years. Orochimaru was one intelligently crafty bastard, that much he was sure of.

Jiraiya sighed, before shaking the boy awake. "Kid, wake up…"

No movement. "Come on, kid, I know you can hear my voice. What I'm about to do might be quite painful, you're gonna want to be awake."

* * *

Naruto's dark violet eyes slowly opened. _{Again…?}_

Why could he not just be allowed to sleep…? His mind felt like mush; nothing much had changed. He still felt dizzy. He still felt tired. What was it this time?

He did notice it wasn't the same voice. This wasn't the interrogator–Ibiki. This sounded familiar. Like that old Pervert-toad-sage.

He let out a large breath. "What…?" The blond cleared his dry throat. Lifting his head sluggishly he turned up towards the sound. His eyes widened slightly. It really was the sennin. "What is it now…? Why are-?"

Jiraiya quickly cut him off. "I'll answer you in a minute, but unless you want this thing stuck to your chakra network forever…" the man–who had previously been reaching for something in his backpack–paused. "Huh? What is this…?"

Naruto watched as Jiraiya expression turned slightly confused before he touched two fingers to the mark on his neck, before pulling his hand away. What was he doing? The toad-sage squinted his eyes a bit, before Naruto saw realization suddenly flooded over the man.

"Whoever did this did a fine enough job, but…" Jiraiya trailed off. Naruto was quite confused at this point.

"But… what?" Naruto stared at the man warily. If he had been woke up just so the frog-sennin could mess with the seal–which he hadn't actually been able to feel at all, surprisingly enough–he was going to be more than slightly annoyed. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"I'm getting you out of here." Jiraiya stated, to which the boy blinked. That was certainly not what he had been expecting to hear.

It left Naruto at a loss for words for a moment. He was here to get him out? Why? As soon as those thoughts registered, the blond started to shake his head. "No, no, no… What are you talking about? Forget it… That-"

"Kid," Jiraiya twitched. "Like hell am I going to let you sit in here like some kind criminal."

"You realize that'll only put _more_ suspicion on me? That's _not_ what I need…" Naruto replied, groggily staring at the man.

"And? You think they're going to try stop me with force? No. We're going up there to get this shit straight. They can spout whatever bullshit they want. You can explain to me in detail what happened afterwards." Jiraiya made a single hand signal and placed his hand on the chain connecting the blond's cuffs, causing the metal to heat up and within seconds snap.

Naruto flinched. "Look… I appreciate the help, and everything, pervy-toad-sage… but if you break me out, how do you know you didn't just break out a criminal?"

"Well first of all, I'm of the belief that _you_ aren't a total dumbass." Jiraiya held up one finger, and then another. "And secondly, I'm of the assumption that _I'm_ not a total dumbass. Put two and two together."

The man was only met with a dull look that said something along the lines of; 'Are you kidding?', and a reply.

"…What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Naruto countered.

"It _means_ that I both believe that you're smart enough to figure out that betraying the village wouldn't end well; and that I believe that if you _did_ , that you wouldn't be stupid enough to defect to Orochimaru." The toad-sennin started. "Not to mention, I doubt you would even consider doing _any_ of this shit in the first place. Sure, I haven't been around you long, kid, and we haven't exactly talked in awhile, but I'm a good judge of character; I know you aren't like that."

Naruto rolled his eyes tiredly, putting his head back to the table. "How do you gather that…? Please do give me your grand analysis…"

Said man scoffed. "Kid… you have this thing about being very punctual. You're… to the point." he almost winced at the memory of the boy's irritation, his lower portion remembering the worst of it. Although he was little like his parents, if there was one thing he could relate to them, he truly was something like his mother when it came to that… just smarter, and with maybe with a bit more tolerance. "Again; If you _did_ want to leave, you wouldn't even try any of this. You'd just leave."

 _{Simple as that.}_ It's something Jiraiya could imagine coming out of the boy's mouth.

"I guess…?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Jiraiya clicked his tongue in irritation. "Then I'd have to hunt you down, wouldn't I?" his expression quickly turned to a deadly serious frown. "By the way, if you do that, I swear to whatever deity there is above, when I find you, I'd beat your ass all the way back."

"Yeah, yeah… _I'm_ just too _important_." the blond stated blandly. "If I ever do leave, if you find me you might as well rip the Kyuubi out and let me die, before making me come back. I'm told that wouldn't be off the table." it was said with a perfectly straight face, and dull stare.

 _{As if would be that easy.}_ The man was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to live with himself. "Kid, don't joke like that."

Naruto opened his mouth to make another comment, however the hand across the back of his head made the words retract. "Kuh!" He glared up at the sennin. "What was that for?"

"Blondie, if you start going emo, I'm going to have to kick your ass extra hard. It doesn't suit your hair."

"Doesn't suit my hair…? What; does my hair determine my personality now?" Naruto paused. "…Actually, you know what, nevermind. We're off topic; what's the benefit of charging in there? There is none. You can go and raise hell if you want, go for it, your choice. Don't drag me in with you, if I just wait it out, I'll be walking out of here soon…"

"I don't feel quite the same. I love this village, but that doesn't mean there aren't a few _select people_ to be worried about. It gives me a bad feeling too; Orochimaru wouldn't try and fuck with the leaf unless he _really_ is prepared, or unless he had something big to gain from it. He doesn't work like that. There's definitely more to this than what's been spilled." Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.

"Huh, what do you mean? The fake ANBU said that this whole thing was some sort of test; Orochimaru was trying to perfect some sort of seal, and then there's the one put on me–and we both know why." Naruto began. "You don't think that's enough reason-"

"There you have it right there, though. The fact that there was some sort of imposter posing as an ANBU at all puts me on edge. There were people in our ranks, by the way it sounds. Now let's go."

"What do you…?" the boy was stopped short when the large built man grabbed him around the arm and threw him over his shoulder, the shock of the movement causing blood pressure loss in his head and making the blond grunt in displeasure at the few second long loss of direction, as the sennin starting to walk out the door.

"Yo- Wait- Hey…!"

"I don't care if _you're_ fine sitting here. This whole situation reeks, and I want to find out what. And you suspected of being a 'failed nuke-nin attemptee' without much of anyone up there on your side, pisses me off as well." With those words said Jiraiya bit into his finger before making a few hand seals and slamming his palm on the wall. Naruto blinked, as a relatively large looking toad fell to the ground.

"Uh…" the toad started blinking back, before looking to Jiraiya. "Eh. What's up? It's rather late… is it serious?"

"Gamashisha… I'm gonna need you to deliver a message to Tsunade…"

* * *

"Excuse my interruption." The ANBU who had been sent to contact Jiraiya stepped through the opened metal door. Everyone in the guarded room ceased their discussions. "Jiraiya-sama has been briefed to the best of my ability, as ordered."

Kakashi raised a brow, however he was not the one to ask the obvious question.

"Where is he?" Koharu looked to the masked individual. "This is a matter of utmost importance; why has he not followed you here?"

The ANBU didn't hesitate with his response. "What I have gathered from his words, he has gone to have a discussion with the subject of this meeting, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Why…? What more information could he possibly get from the boy, that Ibiki-san could not gather?" she further questioned, to which the ANBU shook his head.

"I have no solid explanation. Only that he has said he would be appearing once he is done. His reasoning is that 'It would be useless to sit there and wait for results. I would rather be more proactive in finding the truth behind the matter.' His exact words."

"Well, it really doesn't matter anyhow." Homura started. "There is no more to talk about, until the test results come back tomorrow. I'd say we let him do what he pleases. It would be wise though, if we were to follow through with adjourning this meeting until tomorrow; do you agree, Hiruzen?"

The old hokage, and temporary acting leader finally showed signs of life, a short lifeless stare, before a small nod.

Before people could begin to start leaving, the door opened again. Ibiki stepped in. "I would reconsider calling it a night. We have a problem. Jiraiya-sama, for all purposes, is breaking Uzumaki Naruto out of his confinement."

That got a variety of responses. "What!?" was a shout of the most vocal.

"Morino, explain?" Tsume asked.

"Yeah, I would like to know more too, Ibiki?" Inoichi raised an eyebrow.

The hardened man shook his head. "There's really nothing more _to_ explain. He said he would be taking the boy, and if I were to quote him, for everyone to 'Get cozy.'" he elaborated as much as he could. "He ordered me out of the way when I tried to dissuade him. I can only assume he'll be here any minute. He seemed to be very unhappy."

Koharu didn't look to be satisfied with this lack of explanation. "Unhappy? Unhappy towards-?"

"I'd say, everyone in this room." Ibiki finished.

* * *

Tsunade jolted awake at the first feeling of something solid landing on her bed. "What the f-" She stared at the Dark blue, tan bellied toad in front of her for a moment. She flipped on the bedside light. "Huh? …Gama…" the woman paused. "Wait, what's your name?"

She recognized the toad, but honestly could not remember the name. It was the one Jiraiya always used for speedy delivery of messages.

"Gamashisha. Yo. Jiraiya-san has a message for you, if you couldn't guess, Tits-chan. Rather urgent." he waved.

She twitched in irritation. "Use that name again and I'll rip your insides out, toad."

"Yes Ma'am." he nodded, as if she hadn't just threatened to gut him. "As you say Ma'am."

She sighed internally. "Go on. What is it? Like midnight…? If this is another message like last years'-"

"It's not." he started, and she narrowed her eyes. "Very dire."

"Then…?"

"I wasn't given too much of an explanation, but; Uzumaki Naruto–the blond kid, you know the one he's always on about–is being held by the village because they think he tried killing a few people, deflecting to hebi-bitch, and stuff."

It took a second to click.

"Wait, wait– _WHAT_!?" Tsunade shouted, suddenly jolting out of bed, and practically already in the process of dressing herself into more than her current attire. She leaves the village, and it goes to chaos… "What else!?"

"Apparently a lot of shit went down and he doesn't really know all the exact details, but the old dude–the sandaime–is not really doin' jack about it. Sounds like quite the problem that you need to get straight before Jiraiya-san goes off on 'em. By his tone it sounded like that's already pretty much happening though." Gamashisha informed, saluting.

"Shit. Shit. Shit…" she repeated, gritting her teeth.

"Lady Tsunade?" a chill voice called outside the door of the inn room, a guard. "What's the issue?"

"Shikaku! We may have a problem! I want you to wake everyone up immediately. We need to get back to the village as soon as possible. I'll inform you when we're all present!"

"Sounds like trouble… Will do Milady." he called back.

"Hey, toad, anything else?!" Tsunade turned back to the creature who was watching her dress intently. Normally she would have kicked it's ass across the room and turned it into frog-paste, but she restrained herself because of the situation.

"No ma'am. All I got."

"Well then–I want to you to reverse summon yourself and tell Jiraiya to calm the hell down. They don't know whether or not he's guilty right? Is it still under investigation?" The toad put a webbed hand under his chin. "Give me all the details!"

"About your first two; I think so? When he summoned me, I was in some kind of hallway lined with little rooms and jail cells. The blond kid was over his shoulder, and looked like hammered shit. His arms were all burnt up and injured and stuff, and Jiraiya-san was giving off some mixed vibes. The kid also didn't look too pleased that he was being carried like a sack of potatoes, if I can remember. Other than that, he didn't exactly scream psycho killer…" the toad stopped for a second, squinting as if trying to remember something else.

"Oh yeah, right! This might be important. The boy had a… Uh… The black ink things, with the little…–Fuck."

"A what…?" the blonde woman suddenly blinked, confused.

"You know, the seal thing! The one the hebi-teme likes giving-"

"The cursed seal?!" she widened her eyes.

Gamashisha raised a hand in revelation. "Yeah! That thing! Well he had one of 'em."

Tsunade put her fingers to her head. " _Shit_."

If Orochimaru had managed to cause this much chaos in the village while she was gone, she had to wonder if the toad was missing a few details. Why wasn't their sensei trying to calm the situation? That would obviously be top priority, because the council sure would be in a bit of a ruckus. Hell, every time there was a meeting to discuss matters such as trade and whatnot, there were always a few that brought up the kid as a subject of worry.

'He isn't showing the capacity to forming friendships.' 'He doesn't work well when paired with other students.' 'Needs to be watched more closely.' 'His teachers report that they don't believe the boy has any strong attachment to the village; we need to keep an eye on him.'

He was _ten_ years old, and was treated like some kind of outsider by many of the kids in his class, not to mention everyone around him. Not without reason, sure, when there were certain parents ingraining distance into their young minds; but of course he wouldn't be eager to make friends if there was no one easing him into friendly social interaction with others often.

He didn't have anyone to do so. Even her sensei himself was on distant terms with the boy, according to the man himself. The kid didn't see anyone as a friend, just 'Not hostile, not dangerous, not annoying'. It actually looked, by their interaction, as if Jiraiya was the closest person to the boy. And 'closest' was used very lightly.

It was odd, the way they interacted, yet she _did_ prefer it being Jiraiya over anyone else.

She had only really spoken with the kid a few times, and what she could gather was that he obviously wasn't much of a friend making type anyhow. If anything, he was some sort of weird neutral–like many of the younger ANBU she had known back when it was seen as acceptable to allow gifted children to join the ranks. Except the thing differentiating them was that he had a personality, and didn't see respect as all that important in any other context other than superficially.

Tsunade breathed, regaining her cool as she grabbed her bag. She looked back at the summon creature on the bed. "You; like I said, reverse summon yourself back to Jiraiya, and inform him and everyone that I'm on my way. Go!" she ordered sternly.

"Yes ma'am." Gamashisha nodded, putting his hands together before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. With that, the Godaime flipped off the light and immediately made a line for the door in the darkness.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune's voice sounded through the door, just before she touched the knob. "May I come-"

"Shizune." The young woman blinked and stepped back as Tsunade opened the door, and exited the room into the lit hallway.

Before Shizune could open her mouth, Tsunade put her hand on the black haired female's shoulder, speaking. "I'll give the details in a minute. We need to get back to Konoha _ASAP_ , there are a few things that need to be sorted."

* * *

Naruto inhaled the fresh, cool night air, and let it out with a sigh. He was not able to convince the man to let him down, so he eventually just resigned himself to hanging like baggage during the few moments travel from out of the T&I Division and the head spinning shunshin to the front entrance to the Administrative Division's section of the academy, where he figured the council chambers must have been located.

As soon as Jiraiya took the first step forward, there were similar sounds of air displacement as the one they had just been in. The sennin remained calm as he kept walking, ignoring the shinobi who had surrounded them entirely, on four sides.

"Jiraiya-sama…" one of them spoke. "Please. We _must insist_ you hand over Uzumaki Naruto to us at once. He is a _criminal_ currently under investigation for _murder_ , _treason_ , and various other charges. Until his innocence is proven, we have to assume he is violent, and _very dangerous_. He should remain-"

The sage cut him off. "-And just how many highly skilled shinobi are sitting up in the council room as we speak? If they can't handle him should he get violent, it sounds like we have bigger problems here. But I also have to ask if any of you truly believe that this kid," he jerked his thumb to Naruto, hanging over his shoulder like a ragdoll, his silent, tired, and slightly annoyed; yet all the same, quite innocent expression speaking for itself. "Was the one going on treasonous killing sprees? I didn't think so."

Jiraiya never waited for a response, continuing in his stride toward the doors of the large red building in front of them. Naruto narrowed his eyes, as his ear picked up the faintest of sounds. _{What is that-?}_

Then both males heard the man who was previously speaking, sliding his foot along the ground. And then the sound of metal scraping.

"Takashi, what are you-!?" one of the men started.

Naruto and Jiraiya widened their eyes, as the sennin tensing as he spun around, pulling out a kunai to intercept the one that had been aimed for his head. Steel met steel.

 _ **~Clang!**_

The kunai that had been thrown by the chunin was deflected easily by the toad-sage.

"TAKASHI, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?" the shinobi on the opposite side of the formation from 'Takashi' shouted. The other two in the group turned on the young man as well, pulling out their own weapons.

"Obviously, I'm following through with the plan, Yoritoki!" Takashi shouted, a scroll unraveling in front of him and producing a variety of weapons, as he started going through multiple hand-seals. "It's going to take more than just me-!"

"What the hell-!?" Jiraiya jumped back, Naruto holding on as he moved, the boy being practically weightless to the sennin. _{Plan–!?}_

"NO! _WHAT ARE YOU DOING_!? STOP!" another of the men began, taking off towards Takashi, ready to intercept. 'Yoritoki' also started to move, but the from the conflict on his face Naruto could easily figure out that instead of trying to stop Takashi, he was instead aiming to stop the other man. The only one who had yet to take action was the last man, who was to their left, watching in turmoil as the others converged. Jiraiya was focused on other things, mainly the seals Takashi was making. He knew those… and they helped form a jutsu no mere chunin should know.

"Get in the way if you want to die! **KATON: FIRE DRAGON FLAME BULLET-** "

"Oh shit!" Jiraiya cursed, already going through hand-seals of his own, in order to produce a liquid counter. A single small breath of flame was all that was produced from the other man's throat, trying to sprout an enormous mass of fire, before…

 _ **~Squelch!**_

The sound of a blade ripping through flesh sounded once. Blood decorated the concrete below, as the man who was previously about to try to engage Jiraiya was suddenly separated into two from the neck. All movement was ceased, Yoritoki witnessing the action in shock, while the other two men did the same. Everyone standing there, in front of the building watched as the body dropped to the ground, an ANBU in a lizard mask standing there behind him wielding the red covered sword used to do the deed.

"What the-?" Yoritoki began, before the ANBU dashed by him as well, to the same effect.

The sound of a cane hitting the ground repeatedly was but one of the only sounds.

" _Traitorous dogs_." Shimura Danzo growled, stepping up the final step to the level the were at from the academy building back exit. He gestured with his off hand. "Get the other two who were involved in this treachery." Said men widened their eyes.

"No wait, we aren't-!" the one who tried to stop Takashi stepped back, waving frantically. Lizard didn't halt.

 _ **~Kuh!**_ And there he fell.

The one to Jiraiya and Naruto's right tried to make a getaway, but another ANBU in a rabbit mask landed gracefully in front of him. "Danzo-sama. This one shall be _picked_." she stated simply, her hand glowing as she attempted to drag it across a disabling point of his body. Chakra scalpel.

The 'chunin' just barely managed to duck under the first swipe, rolling backwards as he jumped up and threw his kunai at near point blank range; attached, a paper bomb. "Cheh!"

 **~Hissss…**

She backpedaled a step, and Naruto could swear he heard her whisper something as she simultaneously spun and ' _caught'_ the paper bomb wrapped metal weapon, before redirecting it into the sky with one swift movement. It was as if the kunai had changed direction on it's own…

 _ **~BOOM!**_

It exploded in the sky behind her, lighting it up like a firework as she completed a full rotation and activated her chakra scalpel again. Having more ground than him to make a powerful jump, she launched forward and made contact with the man before he ever met the ground. He tried to deflect her hand, but he wasn't in as generous a position to be doing so, and as such, failed when he was overpowered. She delivered a few more swipes, breaking his guard completely. When he did make contact with the ground, he didn't move.

Naruto–for lack of a better word–was in awe, dropping to the ground off of the sennin's shoulder having been given the opportunity. Jiraiya also lowered his guard, relaxing the _barest_ amount, as all obvious threats had been dispatched.

The rabbit masked woman stood from her crouched landing, and turned to Danzo, bowing. "He will be taken to interrogation immediately."

The elderly man nodded, his gaze sweeping across the scape in front of him before he looked up at her. "Very well. Go, and retrieve someone to clean this mess up also…"

"Yes, Danzo-sama." She turned to Jiraiya, and silently bowed to him out of a show of respect, before she picked up the stilled man, and disappeared. The Lizard ANBU in the same frame of time, had returned back to a position behind Danzo.

Jiraiya turned his narrowed stare from the Rabbit ANBU's previous position, to Danzo. "What… was that?"

The council member looked up to the sennin. "It seems we had a group of traitors in our midst…"

 _{No, really?}_ Naruto thought sarcastically, however did not voice. Jiraiya and the blond heard suddenly heard noise from behind them and turned.

"What is goin' on out here!?" Tsume questioned, followed by many of the other jounin.

There was one thing all of the immediately noticed. The bodies. "What the hell…?"

"Danzo, Jiraiya… What is the meaning of _this_?" Hiruzen stepped out of the building, warily.

"Hm… These men, and one other that has been taken into custody for interrogation were planning on trying to assassinate Jiraiya-san." Danzo started, before swiveling his gaze to Naruto. "And possibly even Uzumaki-san. Anyhow, my guards ended it quickly, and that is the result you see."

Everyone's attention was jerked to Naruto, who had just then been noticed, as he had been standing in Jiraiya's shadow. Chouza grunted.

"And what is _he_ doing _free_?"

Kakashi shot him a look, while Jiraiya turned a harsh glance to him. "Because, he is perfectly _innocent_."

"Innocent…" the burly man scoffed. "Says who?!"

"Me–"Jiraiya stared the man down. "And I'm a few ticks down the scale from verbally throttling whoever the hell felt this was in any way _sensible_."

" _It is sensible_. He's a treasonous criminal, who deserves to be in solitary confinement, chained to the wall. His innocence can't be proven without proper evidence, which is still being-"

"-Yeah that? That's a _roundabout_ way of solving a 'problem' that really _shouldn't_ be a problem at all." Jiraiya replied, clicking his tongue. "Speaking of that; _sensei_ …" he narrowed his eyes at the elderly sandaime, who avoided his student's stare.

Both of them had nearly flinched at the sight of one another. Jiraiya eyed him, clenching his teeth. However this broke soon enough, having delivered the message; almost a 'We'll talk _later_ '. As much as he wanted to be pissed off at him, he couldn't gather up the willpower. How could he possibly fault the man… _{Damnit…}_

Chouza was not done however. "Roundabout way? You want to explain to me how? How are our methods are a roundabout way? A decision to keep him held as a criminal, based on _evidence_ and _logic_ , while it's analyzed further? That's a ' _roundabout way_ '…? Everything points to the fact that _he-_!"

"Chouza." Inoichi sighed, looking up at his old friend. "I understand your feelings on this whole matter, but you need to _Calm. Down_."

"I think a much more urgent problem than that… is this." Shibi observed the corpses of the multiple shinobi splayed on the ground. "We have more moles… renegades among us. Leaks."

"Yes… that's _very_ concerning." Homura stated. A common consensus. Hiruzen's eyes stayed on Danzo for a fraction of a second, before he tore his gaze off. _{No.}_ Despite his very overly pragmatic ways… he had changed for the better over the years. He had chosen to spare Danzo for a reason… And so far, it had only yielded benefits.

"Both matters need to be addressed." Koharu folded her arms. "And until we can find solid evidence that Uzumaki Naruto has not committed the assumed crimes, is _not_ going to go rogue, and is not," she quieted down considerably. "Under the influence of the beast. He should be treated as such, regardless of how Jiraiya-san seems to think he is sound in deciding for himself."

"Oh yeah… and I'm guessing you actually do something productive for the village nowadays, huh?" Jiraiya raised a brow, as he snarked a reply. "No?"

"You'd best watch your tone, _boy._ " she glared, sharp aged eyes demanding respect. "And even if, that does not constitute your release of a potential criminal."

Seriously. "I'm right here." Naruto breathed. "And first of all, _why_ would I go rogue? What's the point? What do you think I could gain?"

"If you can't answer that question yourself, you might be stupider than I thought." Chouza crossed his arms.

Naruto gave him nothing more than a dull stare. "I don't think I can, _Akimichi-san_. I mean, here, I have a house, and am furthering my education; I'm fed, and I have freedom. I really _cannot_ see what I'd have to gain from trying to leave. I'd _honestly_ rather not become Orochimaru's pet, and I'm pretty sure we're in agreeance on that point."

"That's easy to _say_ , not so easy to _prove_ ; child." Koharu retorted.

"Well, _you know_ , it would be easy to _prove_ if I had a way." He rolled his eyes. The woman narrowed his eyes.

"I don't see the reason why we should give you a chance at all." She countered him.

Jiraiya broke into the conversation. "And I don't see why you _shouldn't?_ That decision isn't yours, or anyone but sensei's, or Tsunade's."

Danzo hummed. "I may have an idea of how Uzumaki could be proven innocent. Or at least give him a _chance_ should he accept?" It was as if the last word was some sort of trigger, as just after he said it smoke erupted in front of them.

 _ **~Poof!**_

"Yo!" Gamashisha waved his hand. "I'm here to deliver a message from the Godaime, I was told to tell-" he paused, and blinked at the number of people. "…Everyone?–that she's on her way, and for Jiraiya to calm down. So yeah–do that. I'm pretty sure she meant don't do any rash shit until she gets here!"

"Well, I don't think we have to worry about that as much as we have to worry about…" Tsume pointed behind the toad. "The surprising number of people who think that this must be some kinda _fucking village wide holiday_."

* * *

"Orochimaru-sama." Yakushi Kabuto stepped into a rather well lit room–in comparison to the rest of the base–catching the attention of the snake-like man as he dropped onto one knee in a sign of respect.

The snake sennin barely spared a glance back. Without looking any further, he lifted his right hand from the midsection hold of his singular crutch, signaling to the teenager kneeling behind him.

"Such useless gestures are not needed, as I apparently must keep reminding you. Give me the results." Orochimaru hissed, intently examining a beaker of mixed chemicals he was holding up to a light with his other hand. Despite this sharp reply though, one could easily see he wasn't particularly annoyed–more along the lines of slightly impatient.

"As you command…" Kabuto rose to his feet. "You may not feel the link yet; however the modified cursed seal of heaven has been applied to Uzumaki. It was an opportune time, and the conditions for application were ideal. Near perfect."

Orochimaru set the beaker to heat, nodding to himself. "Good. In that case, I don't regret giving you the liberty… It will save us time if the seal is able to integrate before he recovers."

"…We have also obtained the Third Hokage's grandson. It seems Subject twelve was using him as bait."

"Why?" The sennin sharply hummed in irritation. "For what purpose? He holds little value in the way of progress."

Kabuto eased himself, before quickly replying. "I thought that maybe he could be of use at a... _later date_. Do you not agree?"

"It would be an interesting addition… However, you are to be the one to keep him, and unless he shows promise by way of the plan, or any efforts are wasted, you should execute him. Well nourished organs could be of more use in that case." Orochimaru waved the matter off. "What of the results for the independent mark?"

Although it was said so casually, the words were heavy. The silver haired teenager closed his eyes, ready for the effect his information would have on the snake-like scientist.

"As far as the test results go… unfortunately it went much worse than you had predicted. Little progress has been made since the adjustments. Subject twelve only lasted less than two minutes in full release."

Silence overcame the room. Only broken moments after it began by the sennin himself.

"That's… _very_ unfortunate." Orochimaru silently seethed.

That was the twelfth one, the twelfth seal formula. Years of his work had been sunk into these independent seals–all that had come of it thus far were what could be dubbed 'suicide dolls'. He was _still_ unable to use seals to control nature chakra to its full potential, or even _limited_ potential without the subject dying. To say it _bothered_ him, was an understatement.

"However, this is why field tests are conducted, of course…" he made an attempt to calm himself. It would do no good to get frustrated when there were still other methods out there to try, and further discoveries to be made.

"Yes…" Kabuto hesitantly agreed, only to feel silent relief when the sennin changed to another topic. One with a result that the man would be much more pleased by.

"Kabuto… A day of disappointment it is, but I assume you got the technique we were promised?" the question was left open, yet it had an air about it that expected nothing less than a positive answer.

The teenager let a small grin of satisfaction come to his face, pulling a scroll from his cloak. "Of course Orochimaru-sama."

He approached the table and set it down, before retreating back to his position, leaving Orochimaru to glide his hand over to the table and unroll it for his viewing.

"Ah." the snake-like man read it over, drumming his fingers lightly on the metal table in front of him, thinking. After a few seconds of contemplative thought he stopped, letting a small grin of triumph come across his own visage. "It looks quite genuine, if my memory serves correctly… Good."

There was a short pause, before he continued. "After the tests are completed with this, Kabuto, I do believe it's _time_."

The silver haired teen's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. "The body is prepared? You've found a method?"

The sennin nodded. "Her body is nearly ready. The forced coil expansion had caused a few problems with both her and the beast, but it _has_ been sufficiently dispersed. That should postpone any action from the Akatsuki for quite some time… They should be knocked off our trail."

Breathing room would be a great asset for when they finished setting up Otogakure. Something else caught Kabuto's attention, however.

"Orochimaru-sama, you're going to attempt to transfer into a corpse?" By all means the lack of the beast should have led to the girl's death. "Won't that affect the longevity of the body?"

The body would have a relatively long lifespan anyhow, but even a few minutes without function would be detrimental–the decay rate would accelerate even quicker. It all stacked up over time.

"It will, however the body has been kept artificially sustained, with the help of this solution. That shouldn't cause much detriment." the teen's eyes were drawn to the clear liquid simmering on the burner. "And this body is the ideal host for the Iburi cells, even if it will take quite some time for the kekkei genkai to become stable enough to use… When we can get a hold on the sufficient regenerative properties, it will be _perfect_."

"Go prepare the chamber." Orochimaru ordered, putting a hand in the air and waving him off.

"…Very well." with those words said Kabuto turned about to exit the room.

The man watched the liquid as small bubbles started to form. If he was correct, the body of a Jinchuriki would last several years, if not whole decades longer than any other he would be able to find. It held a good margin of risk, yes, but it would be plenty of time to come up with a method for advanced regeneration.

If that could be achieved, he would be essentially immortal, in a body capable of sustaining future modification. And from there…

 _Infinite possibilities_.

* * *

 **(A/N)**

 **The part with Rabbit was the most fun to write of this, it's short, yeah, but I'm quite pleased with it for some reason.**

 **Oh and, Gamashisha. Name literally means: Messenger Toad. Or does it?–because I'm not japanese, and therefore it could be incorrect? Well, it sounds ok, at least.**

– **(Beyond this point is story plans, and so on.)**

 **Ok so, I have made a decision for the sake of the universe I'm shaping up, and before we can get into anymore real action, there will be some buffer room of information and character building. There are still some things I feel like I need to give you guys, before we jump into graduation, team placement, etc; lest it be left to the wind and flashbacks that I don't really want to do (Because every time I do flashbacks, I feel like I'm disturbing flow, do correct me if I'm wrong on this).**

 **Point is, there needs to be explanation about Iruka, more interaction and development with Ami, a bit of Sakura and (as you'll find out why) more on Shizune. Along with, of course, Naruto.**

 **Phew. Like 18 chapters in, before he even graduates. I have to wonder if I possibly tried to cram too much into this arc. Orochimaru is going to be a big player in this story though, equivalent or more than Izumi honestly. They are gonna have their moments, with some other characters hopefully getting involved with them. (I don't really entirely know yet)**

 **In other news–speaking of Izumi–, Izumi and Hidan haven't been in a chapter for a long time. That should be rectified soon. Up to this point, they've pretty much just been hovering around in the elemental nations.**

 **And… For those of you wondering when Naruto gets his real sword, of which the story is literally '** _ **named**_ **' after (Poor naming decision, I wonder what a better name would be?); I have an…** _ **idea**_ **. Something I haven't actually seen done before, and you guys will see down the line–after the wave arc if you want chronological placement. Still a bit far away, yes, but I want the sword to both mean something, and to be obtained organically.**

 **^• - •^**

 **Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.**


End file.
